


If you're lost just look for me

by fxcknouiam



Series: melodies and memories [2]
Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Larry is married, Lies, Manipulation, Niall is a Good Friend, Niall is still shady, OT5 Friendship, Other, Pregnancy, Sexual Content, Smut, Ziall is cute, girl Zayn, girl louis, its lit, larry stylinson - Freeform, ziall, ziall is real
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-07-18 20:58:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 80,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7330435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fxcknouiam/pseuds/fxcknouiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ill edit tags later :)</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ill edit tags later :)

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him, Lou." Zayn smiles, purposely showing off her freshly whitened teeth. 

"Any time babe, any time." Louis shrugs, ruffling Zaidan's head full of hair that Zayn refuses to let anyone cut. He looks like a little girl. Serenity looks more like a boy than he does... 

The dentist, aka Louis' boss gives her a look, raising his thick eyebrow and all. 

"Okay, okay. Anytime as long as Doctor Cowell says it's alright." 

At that, the boss man cracks a small smile. 

"Louis. Clean up in here, and make sure my office is clean, then you can go for the day. Take out the waiting room trash on your way out, too." Doctor Cowell orders. 

Louis nods, rolling her eyes at Zayn when her boss is turned around, walking out the door.

"Oooo. Getting off early," Zayn glances at her shiny, fancy watch.

Louis is supposed to be off in fifteen minutes. He just easily gave her another thirty minutes worth of work and acted as if he were doing her a favor. Now she's going to have to rush to get the girls from school. 

"What are you going to do with all of this new found free time?" 

"Race to get the girls, go home and try to avoid sex with my husband. The usual." Louis shrugs. 

Harry bought her ovulation tests. Apparently today is the day, according to the reminder her set on her phone for eight am and texts he's been sending all day. He doesn't take a hint, that Harry. 

"Would it help if we got pregnant at the same time?" Zayn offers. 

How sweet, but no. Louis is an adult now. That's kiddie shite. 

"As fun as that would be Love I'm done with kids. I've got me girls, and me Zaidan. I don't need anything else." 

Zaidan smiles with his chubby cheeks up at his aunt. He doesn't know what she said, but he heard his name. Little bugger is ready for nap time. 

"Aw babe. Give Harry one more," Zayn says, like being pregnant and homebound is so fucking fun. 

Louis was stuck in the house with kids for over four years. She is just now getting out and experiencing adult interaction. (So far it's not all it's chalked up to be but at least now she's getting paid.) If Louis recalls, Zayn flipped out and left her kid for like, two weeks after a few months. So, she can save the advice. 

"And then what? Be stuck at home all day again? Fuck no. I wouldn't even get a baby sitter, you know that. I don't even like my kids being in public school, never mind a day care." 

Louis was and still is super fucking worried every single day when she drops her girls off at school. Luckily, they both tell her and Harry every little detail, important or not, of their day as soon as they get in the car. Serenity mostly gives reports of her pooping at school, Aubree is all about her friends. 

"Mm. Yeah. Feel you there." Zayn claims as she texts on her phone. "Alright babe, we're gonna head out. We're going to go see Nanna and pa-pop." 

Zaidan smiles, showing all of his gapped little teeth. He's sleepy and shy, hiding his face in his mom's leg. 

"You wanna walk, or you want Momma to carry you?" She gives her sweet boy an option, patting his hair. 

He doesn't say much, little Zaidan, especially when he's tired. He silently lifts his arms, waiting to be picked up. 

"Okay. Give Auntie Lou a hug and kiss before we go. She'll miss you," 

"Aw. Come on then, sweetheart." Louis picks the sleepy boy up and peppers his face with kisses. She sure does love him. He gives her little smiles and giggles in return before eagerly reaching for his mom. 

The only person he clings to more than his mom, would be his dad. This little stink is Niall's shadow. 

"You're off to Maura's then?" 

Zayn nods, giving her best friend a one armed hug. "Thanks for the plug, babe. Maybe we'll stop by later if you're up." 

"Please do." Louis nods, walking them out. Anything to put off having sex with Harry. 

***

Louis rushes to finish up at work so she isn't too late picking up the girls- Serenity /hates/ that. Luckily she arrives to the school just as the bell is ringing. She gets out and stands with the other parents, who are all much older than her. Some of them look about her mother's age. One old bitch is even pregnant. Ew. 

In the beginning of the year, the looks she would used to bother her. One broad even assumed Louis was picking up her little sisters- come on now. She doesn't give a shit anymore though. They're all in sweats and jeans and Louis looks like a professional fucking doctor in her scrubs. Nobody needs to know that she's really a dental assistant. 

"Mommy, do you have a drink?" Serenity says in lieu of a greeting. 

"I have water in the car-" 

The big bad six year old rolls her eyes, leaving them in the back of her head as she slings her back pack at her mother. "Never mind!" 

"Yeah yeah, when your sister comes out we'll go get slurpees." Louis returns the eye roll. "How was school?" 

Harry's little twin taps her chin, looking up at the sky as she thinks. "Exasperating." She nods, satisfied with her word choice. 

"Exhausting?" Louis tries. 

Ren shakes her head. "Exasperating, mom." 

"Is that even a word?" She hasn't been in school in a while. This isn't embarrassing at all... 

"Mhm." Serenity nods. "My girlfriend told me it."

"Alyssa?" Louis and Harry weren't really surprised when Serenity told them she had a girlfriend a few days after she started first grade. Little baby is cute as hell. 

Ren shakes her hair, frizzy curls swinging and hitting her own face as she does. She's a silly one. "Breanne. Alyssa got mad at me because I kicked dirt on her and didn't say sorry because duh! I wasn't sorry!" 

What the fuck, man. "Woah, dude. You're six, chill out with the girlfriends, and big words mommy doesn't know." Louis mutters the last part, only semi bitter. 

A good majority of the students have left by now and still no sign of Aubree. Louis immediately thinks the worst. Maybe she went home with someone else, followed her friends home or did someone fucking kidnap her cute (still blonde, praise Jesus) baby? Just as panic really starts to settle in, Aubree comes walking out with pouted lips, holding her teachers hand. 

Oh thank fuck her baby is okay, even though she is clearly in trouble. 

"Hey Aubs." Louis squats down to match her sweet baby's height. "What's going on, nugget? Mom was getting worried," 

"Would you like to tell her what happened , Aubree?" Her teacher, Mrs. Greene coaxes. 

"Well, we were playing barber salon and-" Aubree shrugs, looking down at her shoes. 

Louis already knows what happened. The kid doesn't even have to finish, honestly. This is the schools fault. They're supposed to be watching her between the hours of eight am and four pm. 

"Remember daddy said we're not allowed to play barber salon anymore, Bree?" Serenity is more outraged than Louis. 

"Well it wasn't my idea, Renity!" Aubree defends, lying. They made that game up when they decided to cut their dad's hair and paint his nails while he was napping. 

"What happened?" Louis sighs. She probably has to sign something or apologize to someone's parent again. Great. 

"Tiffany told me to cut her hair, so I did. I put her bangs back here," Aubree uses her free hand to point at the back of her own head, around her pigtails. "Because I thought it would look bery cute but it just actually looks stupid." 

Louis sucks her bottom lip hard to avoid letting Aubree or her teacher see her laugh. Her kids are just so ridiculous and she really can't help it sometimes. 

"We don't tolerate this sort of behavior at our school, Mrs. Styles." Mrs. Greene reminds her. 

"No, no of course not. I don't tolerate it either. Did you say you're sorry Aubree?" Louis doesn't know what else to say? She absolutely does not hit her kids and they're too sweet (manipulative) to stay grounded, so. Stalemate? 

"Yeah but hers still telled on me!" 

"Oh god. What. A. Crybaby." Serenity adds her two cents, as always in her sisters defence. 

"Yeah! Her /is/ a crybaby!" The five year old declares, as if that justifies what she's done. 

"Hey! Now that's enough. Wait until I tell your dad about this," Louis threatens, if only to put on a show for the teacher. 

"But hims gonna be mad at me!" Aubree yells, doing the eyebrow thing Louis does when she's angry. 

"Well, he told us no playing barber salon!" Serenity yells back. 

"Luckily," Mrs. Greene speaks over the arguing children. "Tiffany's mother isn't too upset. I do ask that you help Aubree write an apology letter to Tiffany though, due tomorrow." 

Oh hell no. That's not happening. The dog they don't have definitely ate that shit. 

"Of course. As soon as we get home." Louis promises, fingers crossed behind her back. 

Once she gets both girls situated in their seats and hooked up so they can go to the store for after school snacks, Serenity speaks up. 

"Um, mom? I'm just asking you, I don't think we should tell daddy Bree played barber salon at school." 

She's probably right, though it doesn't really matter. Harry is more of a softie than she is. The girls are used to mom's bark and no bite, Harry doesn't even have a bark. He prefers to have Louis bark, so he can just agree. 

"You guys have to stop doing bad shit." Louis shakes her head, pulling off towards their favorite candy store. It's a routine. They go there every day. "Get it together guys. Okay?" 

"She just asked me to, mom!" Bree cries. Louis can see her waving her little hands around in the rearview mirror. "How did I supposed to know it's bad?" 

"Because remember when daddy was crying?" Serenity asks her little sister. 

She's not exaggerating either. The girls cut his hair so short there was no saving it. He had to cut it all off, and yes. There were tears. Louis is... not exactly sad to see it go. He looks good with short hair, more mature. She secretly hoped one of them would have gotten to Zaidan's hair instead when Louis left the scissors on the counter but oh well. 

"Barber salon makes people cry, Bree. That's why we can't play it no more." 

Ren is so smart and mature for a six year old. Who's the mom here? Louis or Ren? 

***

Louis attempts to distract herself and Harry by making a big dinner in hopes that if he eats a lot, he'll just go to sleep. It clearly backfires when Harry wraps his arms around her waist from behind and nuzzles his face in her neck. 

"Smell so good," Harry compliments. 

"Really? Some kid puked on me today," she shrugs, lying. He doesn't falter as expected, instead he trails his tongue on her neck in random patterns. His hand slips down the front of her sweats, and in a moment of weakness she lets him touch. 

"Been thinking about eating my pussy all day," Harry grabs her crotch possessively, lips against her ear when he speaks. 

"Harry I-" don't want to have sex with you because I won't get pregnant and you'll be disappointed and blame yourself, again. "I have to finish dinner. The girls need to eat," 

Harry pulls his hand out of her pants but doesn't move away from her. "What are you going to do when we have a boy? You always say 'the girls'. What about when we have two girls and a little boy?" 

Louis snorts. "Unlikely." Because she's not having anymore kids. 

"How so?" 

Oh shit. "Well. Girls are in my genes, Haz. My mom had all girls, we had all girls. Lottie's having a girl." Doesn't know who the dad is either, but Louis won't get into that now. 

"Your mom had a boy the last time around. Little Ernie. That's why we can't give up, so we can have our own little Ernie-" 

"Harry." Louis moves his hands off of her this time, moving away from him completely. The sad look on his face hurts, so she ignores it. 

"What if I get pregnant and it's a girl? As soon as it's potty trained you're going to want to try again for a boy. And then we end up with a house full of twenty kids, all girls and no money or time for each other except for the thirty seconds a year it'll take for you to put another girl in me," she's done with kids, is what she's trying to say here. 

"Baby," Harry shakes his head, laughing like she's irrational for wanting a life outside of cartoons and diapers. "I just want another baby, I have for a while. If it's not a boy, then it's not a boy. I'll have three princesses and a queen and I'll be perfectly okay with that." 

Well. That isn't really the point here, is it? The point is she is twenty four and her kids are finally old enough to wipe their own ass (Aubree still needs some help). 

"We have Zaidan." Niall and Zayn are always eager to hand him over for a night or two. "And Lottie's baby will be here soon. Do you really think we aren't going to be raising that thing? She doesn't want it!" 

All of that is true, and Louis is okay with it. Lottie is scared and alone, so between Louis and their mom they have to help her. Obviously Harry is in on that too. 

"That's not the same, Louis." Harry shakes his head again. "We have our own house, we're married and financially stable on our own. I want to go through another pregnancy with you, one where we aren't scared of who's going to be disappointed or how we're going to feed it. I want to have a baby that we're excited about from the second you get pregnant to the time it's born," 

"Were you not excited about the girls, Harry? Because nobody told you you had to stick around. I made that very clear when I found out about Serenity-" 

Harry massages his temples with one hand. Both temples, one hand. His hands are so big... stay focused, Louis. Fuck.

"That isn't what I meant and you know it, Louis. I was sixteen, nobody is excited about having a baby at sixteen," 

Louis smiles, not a happy one but more of a sarcastic smile. "Yeah I know, because your mom offered me abortion money every time she saw me." 

And fuck her for that, too, because Louis wanted Serenity. 

"That's- we aren't fighting about this, Louis!" 

"We also aren't having another baby Harry." Louis folds her arms across her chest, genuinely pissed now. "Because even if I do decide to let you touch me ever again, I've been on birth control since I had Aubree." 

Harry freezes, staring at her in horror like she just confessed to a murder. He doesn't say anything, he just takes his keys off of the counter and slams the door behind him on his way out. 

And of course, dinner is burnt.


	2. Chapter 2

Niall arrives at Maura's house for dinner about an hour after Zayn and Zaidan showed up. Zayn is attempting to help by peeling potatoes when he comes in, kissing his mother on the cheek, then Zayn. 

"Food smells good, Ma." Niall compliments, giving Zayn extra kisses. His stubble is tickling her. 

"Thank you, dear. Was gonna make a meatloaf tonight but I remembered Zayn said you's were coming by today," Niall's mother completely ignores her son and daughter in law being weird at her kitchen table. "So I put a roast on, had Greg turn it on at about nine this morning, think he didn't get around to it until noon of we're honest here." 

"Get off of me!" Zayn giggles. She has important potato peeling business to execute here, and all his ticklish kisses aren't helping her out. "Now gimme real kiss," she puckers her lips as ugly as she can. 

Niall knows what's good for him, because he does indeed give her a real kiss. 

"Where's my boy?" Niall helps himself to Zayn's drink. A-hole. 

"Having a catnap with your dad." His mother answers. Zayn nods, agreeing. "Poor thing was so tuckered out when he got here and you know my Bobby- any excuse for a nap." 

"I think Niall gets it from him," Zayn teases. 

"Ah, I don't nap Zayn." Niall side eyes her like she's weird. He's the weird one. 

Before Zayn can think of another smart ass remark, Harry of all people comes walking in, Greg hot on his heels. 

"Maura! Always a pleasure to see your beautiful face," he greets. 

"Harry, Love! Nobody told me you'd be coming too, oh I'm so glad to see you! Please tell me Louis and those precious little babies are with you, too?" 

Zayn gives her husband the "what the fuck" eyebrow during this entire conversation. Why is Harry here? They better not be hanging out all night, because Zayn has plans for Niall. She has a little surprise for him. 

"No, not today. Lou is having a girls night with them." Harry shrugs apologetically. Lying to Maura isn't his favorite thing to do but that's easier than explaining that him and Louis are fighting, and that Harry doesn't know if he's going home tonight so that's why he didn't take the girls with him anyways. 

"It's alright, we can have a boys day while the women play in the kitchen." Greg offers, smiling all dopey at Harry. 

"When are you going to get a fucking job, Greg?" Niall embarrasses his brother as per usual whenever they see each other. 

"Niall!" Zayn gasps, swatting his arm. "I don't have a job either," not that she needs one, but still. 

"You're a mom, he's only got his kid once every two weeks!" Niall spits. Why is he always so bitter towards his brother? 

"Is that any of your damn business, Niall?" Greg and Niall have the same face when they're irritated.   
"Enough, boys." Maura says, just as stern as when they were kids. "And Niall, I'll have you know Greg's been helping out at the grocery store down the street a few days a week, as well as a few chores around here." 

"A buddy of ours," Harry gestures between himself and Niall. "Liam, actually, has this construction gig. I'm sure if you tell him you're looking for work he could use you," 

"Liam Payne?" Greg asks, dopey smile returning to his forever young face. 

"Do something with your life, man. Mom's tired of looking at you everyday." 

"You tired of looking at me everyday?" Zayn flirts, attempting to distract Niall from verbally abusing Greg. 

"He doesn't mean it, man. He's a big ole baby, grumpy cause he's ready to eat." Harry assures his best friends older brother as they walk back to the den. 

"Yeah, a little bit." Niall jokes, lacing his fingers between Zayn's. His thumb rubs across the band of her rings- the rings that show other guys he owns that ass already. 

"That's unfortunate, because your son looks just like me." Zayn breaks the bad news to her husband. 

She loves when they're like this. Silly and bantering but still lovey. He's her best friend and her man, she feels so lucky to have him. 

"That he does." Maura agrees. She's taken over Zayn's potatoes, peeling them with practiced fingers much faster than Zayn's. "Especially with all of that hair, thick and wavy like Niall's, but long and dark like yours." 

"It is getting long," Niall comments, gently. Zaidan's hair is a sensitive subject for her. 

"What the fuck are you hinting at then, Niall?" Zayn snaps. See. Sensitive. 

"Nothing! It's facts. My son's hair is long and in public people think he's my daughter," the dad defends. 

Maura glances up at them, intrigued and amused by their bickering but she won't dare get involved. 

"Well that's their problem. He dresses like a boy and talks like a boy," Zayn doesn't want to cut her babies hair yet, alright? He's so little and it's so cute and sometimes it's curly. He likes his hair. 

"Exactly, babe. They think she's a tomboy-" 

"Do you really want to call my son a "she" while I'm holding this knife?" 

"What are you going to do? Give me it so I can cut his hair for you?" Niall laughs. Zayn glares. 

"You like his hair." Zaidan's mom pouts. 

"I find it adorable." His Nanna agrees. 

"I do like his hair, but it gets in his way. We should get him some of those headbands like Harry used to wear, since he don't need 'em no more." 

"Ooo. That would be cute-" Maura agrees. 

"Then he would look more like a girl!" Zayn cries. 

"I can make some. All different colors," Nanna offers. It's a no from Zayn. 

"Isn't she sweet?" Niall is annoying Zayn on purpose, fucking bastard. "Thanks Ma. That'd be lovely." 

***

"We're gonna go out for a bit," Niall informs Zayn as they're heading to their cars. "Me and Harry, after I drop Zaidan at home." 

Zaidan wants to ride in his daddy's car, which is fine because now Zayn can smoke on her way home. 

"Where you going?" She kind of wanted to spend time with him tonight, do some things to him tonight. 

"Just for a drink. Gonna try to get the boys out with us, maybe Liam too." One week Niall and Liam are best friends, the next they can't stand each other. Like high school girls, they are. 

"One drink but you're going to get everybody together?" Zayn isn't a fool. He'll be out all night and hung over tomorrow. 

"Is that okay? I didn't think you'd want everybody at our house," 

Over on the grass, Maura, Bobby and of course Greg watch as Harry spins Zaidan around. Zaidan is cracking up, he thinks Harry is so funny. 

"No, no I don't care what you do Niall, it's just." Zayn shrugs. "I wanted to chill with you." 

Niall eyes her suspiciously. They're fucking married for fuck sake, of course she wants to spend time with him. "You..." He squints his eyes. "You just wanna get dicked." 

Oh shit, she's caught. 

"Okay? Is that a crime?" She waxed her pussy /and/ her ass for him before she went to get her teeth whitened at Louis' job. That shit hurt, and she doesn't want it to be for nothing. 

He laughs when she doesn't deny it, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to him. "New plan." 

Zayn smiles and nods, waiting to hear this new plan that surely involves her getting her kitty ate. If it doesn't, she'll have to make a /better/ new plan. 

"Harry is going to drive Zaidan home in your car, and we'll take mine, so I can play in that pussy until we get home," 

Oh, Zayn is liking this plan already. 

"I'm gonna fuck you, go out, come back and fuck you again, eat a sandwich and fuck you one more time," 

Zayn hides her face in his shoulder, biting it as she laughs. He's ridiculous. The plan sounds amazing, fanatic and phenomenal but realistically they'll probably only accomplish step one and two. 

"I don't want Harry to drive my car," no offense to Harry, but he drives like a grandpa. People expect her car to go fast. 

"Too bad, babe." Niall scoffs. His plan needs no alterations in his eyes. "Your car has Zai's car seat and mine has a lot of back seat room," 

He wants to fuck in the car? Well. Alright. 

"I love you." Zayn kisses her husband just because.

"Mhm, whatever." Niall rolls his eyes, pinching her little butt to let her know he's only joking. 

Niall tells Harry he's driving Zaidan, which Zaidan is thrilled by. He jumps up and down, all super excited. He hardly stays still enough to give his grandparents kisses goodbye. 

*

Zayn moans, lifting her hips higher against Niall's hand. 

"Oh my god," her husband groans. "Did you fucking shave it?" 

He's so dramatic. Zayn never lets herself go down there more than a week. She nods, holding onto his wrist so he can't pull his hand away. These fingers... are like heaven. 

"Oh my god. Why?" 

"For you," she replies. If this is his reaction to feeling it, she can't wait until he actually sees it. 

"Well, yeah. Course it's for me." He mutters. If her eyes weren't trained on his face right now (always did love the way he looks when he's driving) she might of missed that little eye roll. 

He's been very possessive and jealous, territorial or whatever since they got engaged. Even now that she is married to him and makes it her daily mission to be up his ass as much as possible he still gets jealous. 

"Do you like it?" Zayn keeps one hand on his wrist, using the other to run her fingers through Niall's hair. It's not really styled today, just sort of pushed to the side. 

She wonders how long she hasn't been paying attention for, because suddenly they stop. They're parked somewhere behind a building though. 

"Mhm." He nods, unconvincing. "Don't do it again." See. 

Zayn breathes out a little laugh, unhooking her seatbelt. She climbs over so she's straddling his lap with only a little help from Niall. 

"I thought you would like it." She confesses once they're settled. 

"Not sure I can get over the idea of someone seeing naked enough to come to like it."

"It was a woman, if that helps." She barely spoke English and her face didn't change throughout the entire thing. 

"I don't mind it hairy." He shrugs one shoulder. So, the fact that a woman did it still changes nothing. Poor jealous babe. Doesn't he get by now that Zayn is borderline obsessed with him? "You don't mind me hairy, why would I mind you? Hope you're not expecting me to do that," 

She loves him hairy, actually. When he shaved it she felt like a pervert. 

"You could wax me next time," Zayn offers, ignoring everything else. She would never expect him to wax his fucking balls and he knows it. 

Niall's quiet for a minute, considering. Zayn takes his thinking time to kiss on his neck a little. He smells so good all the time...

"That could be fun." 

For him, yes. Zayn agrees. 

"Shit," he mutters, hands squeezing the tops of her thighs through her jeans. "Take your pants off," 

At least they're loose fitting, easier to take off. Zayn's had a lot of practice fucking in cars, especially this one so she gets them off with little trouble. 

"This how you want it baby?" Niall asks, unbuckling his belt. 

One time he bound Zayn's wrists together with that belt. They were in their basement, drunk and wrestling around. Niall won. 

"You on top?" 

Zayn's so eager that her pants are only off of one leg before she starts taking over and helping him pull his down. "Yeah, yeah." 

Niall hisses when she wraps her hand around his cock, pulling it out of his jeans. If they were at home where they had more space, she'd put her mouth on it. It's wet and stupid big and /red/. 

With her fingers curled in Niall's hair (he likes that more than he'll ever admit (she also found this out during their play fights)) she lines them up, seating herself on Niall's prick. His hands grip her waist, squeezing as he tries to move her at a faster pace. 

Zayn slides herself back up, pulling his head back by his hair to angle his face so she can kiss him. And that- after literally two thrusts, maybe an entire twenty seconds of being inside her, is when Niall comes. He buries his face in her neck, grunting as he does so. Zayn sighs, petting his hair. This has been happening a lot lately. Not usually this fast though, she usually gets a good three to five minutes. 

"Sorry," Niall leans back to look at her. "Sorry. You just," he gestures to his hair. "And well. You know." 

"It's okay. It was great." She nods, not wanting to hurt his feelings or his pride or whatever.

"Later, yeah?" He promises. Zayn slides off of him, getting to her own chair and wiping up with one of the napkins in his glove box. 

"Mhm." She nods again, smiling. It's not his fault, she knows that this isn't something he can control but she also knows there won't be a later. There never is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all over the place because I wrote small sections at a time because I've been so tired from work ://// and I've been writing two other things so my brains been everywhere yikes
> 
> Sorry if it's shit I promise ill do better !!! Xoxo

Harry comes home drunk and sad, well passed three in the morning. He isn't super drunk or anything, as he actually stopped consuming alcohol over an hour ago. So maybe he's buzzed and sad. Whatever. 

He expects Louis to be sleeping. However, he's dead wrong. As soon as he unlocks the front door and quietly kicks off his shoes he turns around as sees her. She's sitting in a chair that doesn't belong where it is, facing the door with her arms folded. She looks tired. Harry should cuddle her to sleep. 

"Ask me how much I love you." She quietly demands, only because her children are sleeping. 

They were quite sad, Aubree especially, when daddy wasn't home to eat dinner with them or tell them goodnight. Louis' heart broke for them despite knowing Harry was coming back. 

It was just... so eye opening, the tiniest taste of what life would be like without Harry. 

"Louis-" Harry's voice is rough, croaky sounding. 

"Too fucking much Harry." Louis is pissed. Harry will pay for this, in small ways that he won't even notice but mark her words, he will pay. 

"Baby," he knows, and he loves her too but he's so hurt! They're best friends, they tell each other every single detail about themselves. How could his best friend, his fucking soul mate hide something from her for so long? 

"So we'll have a baby." 

Whoa, what? Harry definitely didn't see that coming... 

"As much as I don't want it I'm sure I'll love it," Louis says more to herself than her husband. "And if you ever, /ever/ walk out of this house and don't make it back to tell /my/ girls goodnight before they fall asleep you'd better have a damn good reason for it or I promise I will kill you." 

Of all the times Louis has said that to him, threatened his life and shit, she's never been so calm about it, and that's what makes him believe her. 

Harry loves his kids with everything in him. He did not mean to hurt them by leaving, didn't mean to hurt anyone by leaving. He'll spend the rest of his life making that up to them if that's what it takes. Instead of telling Louis any of that though, he just stands there by the front door and nods his head like an idiot. 

"Go take a shower." Louis stands, adjusting her robe. Always wearing that fucking robe, even to sleep. It's not even cold in here. "I don't want you in my bed smelling like beer." 

"You're like an ice woman." Harry drunkenly comments when her back is turned. He's been thinking it for weeks but he definitely didn't mean to say that out loud... 

Louis turns around slowly, face contorted with confusion. 

"You don't even get naked any more," Harry possibly digs himself into a deeper hole of trouble. He can't really tell... He's drunk and this /is/ the truth. 

"Why should I, Harry?" Louis snaps back. "You don't make me feel good about myself, you only compliment me when you want sex and the sex," she shakes her head, too angry to care that this is going to hurt his feelings. "Is so fucking boring and painful it's not even worth it-" 

"What?!" He shrieks, voice high pitched and offended. Sex has always been amazing for them. Mind blowing, even. Phenomenal. Life changing. Harry has always made sure every time he dicks her is better than the last and now she lays this shit on him? He can't trust her anymore, that much is clear to him now. 

"We've been together for like five years Harry you should be able to tell when I'm faking it by now," Louis scoffs. Oh baby, oh baby, oh please. When it's real, all Louis says is "I love you" over and over again. It hasn't been real in a while. 

Now, Harry is livid. The audacity... "Seven, Louis! It's seven! We've been together seven fucking years and you still can't tell me when something is wrong! I'm just supposed to guess everything that's going on with you-" 

He's cut off by a slap. He knew it was coming by the way she stormed over to him but the drunk and hopeful part of him hoped she would kiss him, not hit him. 

"If I don't tell you something it's because you don't need to know." She's quiet but stern. Her children will /not/ be woken up in the middle of the night by their parents fighting, ever. 

"Right." He nods, tonguing his cheek. "Like you being on birth control for five years and letting me think we were trying to have a baby-" 

"It's my body, Harry!"

"Oh, bull shit!" He doesn't even care if she hits him again this time. He's over it. "You have to know every single move I make all day long-"

"I don't have to know!" Louis raises her voice a little. She isn't yelling, not consciously anyway. She just wants to be louder than Harry. "I /want/ to know about your day and how you're feeling and interesting or irritating shit that happens to you throughout the day because I /care/ Harry. About you." She pokes his chest twice as she says the last few words. 

That's the thing though, that's why Louis doesn't want another baby right now. Her and Harry need mommy and daddy time, time to reconnect and remember why they fell in love with each other. The fact that Harry didn't catch that they're off before she did worries her. 

"What?" The big fucking idiot is confused. No surprise there. 

"When's the last time you asked about my day, or told me I'm pretty when you weren't trying to have sex with me?" 

God, she loves him. She really, really fucking loves him with everything in her she truly does but... She cannot believe she settled for him, and he has the nerve to treat her like this. What even is her life right now. 

"I-" Harry fish mouths for a minute, thinking. Yeah, her point exactly. "You know you're the most beautiful woman in the world to me baby," he shakes his head. "I ask about your day everyday, don't I?" 

Louis shakes her head too. She's tired, she has a long day tomorrow. The girls have t-ball practice tomorrow. They usually have to rush there straight from their school and change in the car. Louis (and Aubree sometimes) hates t-ball days. 

"I'll make an appointment tomorrow,." She says instead. On her very limited lunch break... "To get my birth control taken out. I'm going to have a baby for you, and all I ask in return is that you stop this." 

"This" doesn't need to be discussed any further. They both know she's referring to his drinking, which isn't necessarily out of control but it's increased over the last few months. 

Harry nods, silently agreeing. Louis doesn't wait up for him to get out of the shower. 

***

"I had, um, a lot of little baby corns," Aubree demonstrates how small the "baby corns" were with her own little baby fingers. "And you didn't even- wasn't even there to see it!" She accuses Harry. 

"You are a baby corn." Louis teases. "Now sit down the right way or I'm going to make you eat more corn for your snack." 

She's really just trying to save Harry from blonde princesses grilling, even though he deserves it. Aubree was just excited to tell her daddy because her daddy always gets proud of her when she eats all of her food at dinner. 

"I know, I'm sorry." Harry sincerely apologizes to both his girls. Well, all three of them. "What else did you have for dinner?" 

"Steak." Serenity informs him, eyes completely trained on the pizza on her plate. It was pork chops, but close enough. 

Louis is too exhausted to deal with cooking again tonight. Hence the pizza. 

"Where was-ed you yesterday, daddy?" Louis was not exaggerating about Aubree being upset. 

"I had to go see Uncle Niall's mommy," he hasn't even told his wife where he was yet, though he's sure she already knew, and here he is explaining himself to his five year old. 

"I like Uncle Niall's mommy," Blondie nods. Both of her parents already know where she's going with this... "You can take me with you next time." Yep. 

"I made the appointment." Louis says quietly. She's a little bitter, alright. "It's for tomorrow," her only day off. "So I'll need you to watch them while I'm there." 

"Daddy's watching /us/?" Bree asks excitedly. Every time she gets excited she practically stands up on her chair and it gives Louis heart attacks. 

"He can take us to the park tomorrow." Serenity shrugs. She realizes she has no choice in who watches her, as much as she'd rather be with mom all the time dad is okay too sometimes. "And then we can eat some more pizza, and then go back to the park again." 

Yeah, dream on. Harry doesn't take them to parks because of the /one time/ both girls hid from him behind trees when it was time to go and yeah, obviously he couldn't find them. 

"Appointment?" Harry questions. Oh, he forgot then? 

Normally, Louis would capitalize on that, make up something and-

"Oh." He nods, swallowing the bite of food in his mouth. "For the baby, excellent. Of course." 

Louis remembers a time when she found everything about him to be sexy. Sure, she still finds him endearing as hell but... there's no spark. She used to find it sexy that he loved being a dad. And now that's about to bite her in the ass. 

"Girls," Louis' husband starts off, voice high and chipper and honestly Louis is a little grossed out now. Why is he excited to have babies that she doesn't want? What a selfish prick, truly. 

"How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?" 

Serenity sighs, probably as tired as her mom is. Being six is exhausting. "I already have a sister. She's right there, unless you forgot." Her voice oozes sarcasm. 

The only person she's really nice to all the time, even when she's in a bad mood is her sister. Sometimes Louis, but Serenity never says things to hurt her sister like she does to other people. 

"I don't have a brother though Renity," Aubree reminds everyone. She looks intrigued. "Zaidan is /not/ my brother." 

The girls love their cousin, but sometimes he gets on their nerves. 

"He's our cousin, Bree." 

Louis loves listening to them interact. They're so cute. 

"Mom and I are going to try to have another baby, it might be a sister or it might be a brother." Harry uses his calm and gentle voice. 

Immediately Aubree flies up in her chair. "Can it be a sister, so I can be the big sister? Oh! No! Can it be a brother because I don't have a brother? Renity doesn't have a brother either, right Ren?" 

"Maybe it will be a brother and a sister." Louis says, face blank as she stares at her husband. If she has twins... He's getting a vasectomy or a divorce. 

"Yeah!" Blondie cheers, pizza sauce all over her face from trying to take bites while she talks. 

"Can they have their own room?" Serenity grumbles. She'll never say it to her sister or her dad, or anyone who isn't Louis, but Aubree's paw patrol stuff really gets on her nerves. They're going to need their own rooms soon too, and Louis isn't sure how the little one is going to take it. 

"Sure. Maybe you can have the room upstairs?" The mommy tries. 

"Yeah! We like the room upstairs!" Aubree grins. 

They aren't allowed upstairs, because Louis can't see what they're doing up there so they don't need to be up there. Naturally that means they sneak up there and hide. 

"Okay, little monkey. Sit down before you hurt yourself," Harry forces Aubree to sit on her butt again. They shouldn't have gotten rid of her booster seat yet, that thing had buckles that forced her to sit. 

Serenity just looks confused. She doesn't get curious like Aubree does, she gets more emotional when she doesn't understand things... 

"Why do you just want to get another baby, mommy?" 

"Don't you-" Louis cuts him off right there. Clearly Harry is the only one excited about another baby. (Aubree gets excited over everything. She doesn't count.)

"Because /daddy/ wants another baby and I love him." Louis answers simply, earning two dimples from her husband. What a dumb ass. "Sometimes when you love someone, you have to do things that make them happy, even if it doesn't make you happy. It's called sacrifice, you'll learn when you're older." 

If Louis wasn't so caught up in getting the message across to Harry she would have worded that much differently. She would never tell her impressionable daughters to do things that don't make them happy. Because, that's how you end up twenty four and married, being guilted into having a /third/ baby.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The most terrible, awful thing has happened... I lost inspiration. Not just for this, but for all 4 of the stories I was working on, including the collab with Vanity who is an angel. Sad. I am sad, and I am sorry. As soon as I find something to inspire me again I'll write the next chapter (as well as work on the other crap I started) 
> 
> I'm so sorry :/ love you xoxox

Zayn and Niall decided to take Zaidan to the zoo today for his first time ever since Niall has the day off. It was a damn good idea too, because Zaidan /loves/ animals. 

"A zebra!" Their little boy cheers, smiling so wide that all of his little gapped teeth show. 

Zayn can't stop taking pictures of him. He is just so frickin' cute. 

"It's Mummy Zebra and- and Zoe Zebra," he tells his dad, pointing at two very obvious male zebras. 

Niall turns to give Zayn a questioning look, noticing his wife on her fucking phone /again/. 

"Mommy!" Niall snaps, barely getting her attention. "Who is Zoe Zebra?" He could ask Zaidan, but he just needs Zayn to walk a little bit closer to them... 

"Mommy Zebra's baby." Zaidan answers, never taking his eyes away from the animals. He's gonna fight them when it's time to leave, they'd better wait until he's sleeping to even try it. 

"What'd you say?" Zayn belatedly acknowledges her husband, coming close enough to ruffle the boy in his arms hair. 

"What are you doing?" Niall glances at her phone then back to her. 

"Hmm?" Zayn isn't getting it. 

Niall doesn't answer, he just uses the hand not supporting Zaidan to pluck her phone out of her hands and secure it in his own back pocket. Zayn visibly deflates but doesn't argue. Niall won't argue with her here. In the car or at home maybe, but not here. 

"I was sending pictures to my mom, baby." 

Zayn's phone is always something that has bothered Niall. Not just the phone, but her social media too. That's why they share a Facebook account now. Certain selfies that are just of Zayn often end up deleted. 

Niall nods, getting his own phone from his front pocket and places it in his wife's hand. "Carry on then. Don't drop it." 

Zayn doesn't dwell on it. Not to him or even in her own mind because today is a nice family day, damn it. So she does indeed carry on with Niall's phone. 

***

Louis pouts with her head rested on Zayn's shoulder, which- that's not why Zayn came here. What kind of a smoke session is this? They have limited time before Niall's gonna want to take Zaidan home. 

For the most part, Zayn ignores her. She just smokes and passes it back while rambling on about how cute Zai was at the zoo. Louis cuts her off when Zayn gets to his reaction for the bird exhibit. (He cried and clung to Niall, wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.)

"My marriage is in shambles." 

It's probably not though. Zayn knows better. Her best friend is hella dramatic. 

"I just need to know, Zaynie," Louis pauses to add suspense. 

Ugh. "Know what, babe?" 

"If Harry and me get divorced, he can sleep on your couch right? You have a lot of rooms, he can stay there right?" 

The answer is no, so they better stay married. Zayn didn't want to live with Niall's friends at this house and she certainly doesn't want to at her own house. 

"Of course." She nods, pretending to be sincere. "Why are you divorcing?" 

The more dramatic friend growls, snatching back the blunt from Zayn's fingers. "I'll kill him before I let him divorce me." See. Zayn knew not to worry. "I put so much work into perfecting him, he's my masterpiece. My little work of art. I'll cut his throat before I let another bitch reap the rewards of all /my/ hard work!" 

Zayn blinks at her. Maybe she should text Niall and tell him it's time to go... 

"So... what's wrong then, Lou?" 

Louis plops herself back on Zayn, all sad and miserable. "He wants me to have another baby, and I have to!" She sobs, sans tears. 

"You don't want another baby?" Zayn herself wouldn't mind another one. Her and Niall haven't talked about it, but they also don't do anything to prevent her from getting knocked up again. Sometimes he pulls out, but he mostly forgets. 

"Hell no." The eye roll is audible. "My girls are older to where we can have fun with them now, you know? If we have another baby now... it just. It's gonna suck, you know?" 

Zayn somewhat gets where Louis is coming from. Zaidan is still little though, and there's only one of him. Louis has got it a bit harder. 

"He thinks I made an appointment to get my birth control out." She informs casually, inhaling smoke. "It was actually to replace it." Sneaky cunt. 

They're quiet for a while after that. They lounge in Louis' bed with the television on mute, it's relaxing enough that Zayn almost falls asleep. 

"Can you leave Zaidan here so I have an excuse not to have sex with my husband?" 

Niall's wife lolls her head to the side, looking at Louis. "But you love having sex with your husband." Zayn wishes she could have sex with her husband right now. Niall's so cute and he always smells good. 

Oddly, to Zayn's disbelief Louis groans again. "I know, I know. But that was before, back when he actually wanted to satisfy me." 

If Zayn weren't so mellow right now, she'd cringe. She settles for furrowing her eyebrows in disgust instead. 

"Now his only goal is to knock me up, and that's not sexy at all. You know the last time we had sex last month he said something about me being pregnant as dirty talk." The twenty four year old mother shakes her head in utter disappointment. 

Her best friend only blinks at her. "You guys haven't had sex since last month?" 

The roles are somewhat reversed for Zayn and Niall. In their case Zayn wants it all the time and it's usually Niall who needs a little persuasion. 

"Right, that's why I need Zaidan. Don't wanna break the steak." The toddler usually sleeps in their bed when he spends the night, because the girls pout when they try to get him to sleep in their room. That's just fine though, Auntie Louis loves to cuddle her little Zai Zai. 

"I guess." If Harry isn't going to get lucky, maybe Zayn can. "You have pull ups here? Sometimes he has accidents at night," he won't poop on the toilet unfortunately, but he always let's his parents know when he has to pee. Gotta start somewhere. 

Of course Louis has pull ups for him here. She has a tiny little dresser in the closet just for Zaidan's stuff. She's incredibly in love with her nephew. He reminds her so much of Zayn.

Niall taps on the door twice before he opens it and walks in. 

"We're keeping Ren and Aubs tonight," he informs his wife. 

Apparently he and Harry have just had a similar chat then. 

"Actually Love I'm keeping Zaidan tonight, missed him quite a bit. Thanks though," Louis quickly shoots him down. 

Niall narrows his eyes, face stern. "It's alright, I insist." 

Louis does not back down from the challenge. The fuck does she look like being scared of Niall? 

"I insist harder." 

In the end, Louis ends up winning and Zaidan stays. 

***

When the couple arrive at their house, the first thing Niall does is grab a beer and turn on a football game he recorded. So, now Zayn's going to be bored all night and she doesn't even have Zaidan here to play with. Even her mom is busy when she calls to talk to her. 

Doodling various cartoon versions of Niall's face in one of Zaidan's drawing books is only fun for so long. She draws him happy and mad, when he's sleeping and when he's cooking. She even drew him in a tuxedo like when they got married and now she's just bored. 

She tosses the book on Niall's lap and bangs her head against the sofa. Niall offers her a somewhat annoyed glance. In his defense, he is watching something. But. 

"I'm so bored I could probably die." 

Her husband offers no solutions, as predicted. 

"Can I paint on you?" Sometimes when he's drunk he'll let her paint his legs or sometimes his back. That's fun. She likes touching him. 

Niall licks his teeth, eyes focused on the screen of the television. "An entire room of shit I bought for you to paint and color on, and you want to paint on me?" 

Well duh. "You're my favorite canvas, baby." 

They have a stare off, Niall tries to look annoyed but he cracks when Zayn gives him the biggest, dopiest smile she's got. He hands her his beer and lifts his shirt over his head. 

"Make me look cool this time. No more hearts and shit." 

That request is flat out ignored. It's impossible for her not to draw hearts when she looks at him... hello! She /loves/ him! She comes back quickly to find Niall laying on his back on their living room floor. So she gets to paint his chest this time then. Cool. 

Zayn sets her equipment up after she takes a seat next to him. "Ready to get tatted babe?" She jokes. 

He can appreciate and admire tattoos on other people, as literally all if his friends have them, but he doesn't really want any of his own. Which is perfect, Zayn loves that she is the only one who gets to put art on his perfect skin. 

He's quiet, still focused on his game but still manages to give her a thumbs up. Alrighty then. Niall stays relatively still while Zayn does her thing, not that he needs to. It's just paint after all. When she's done, she takes a picture of her work (like she always does) on her phone and shows it to him, letting him look while she cleans up. 

It says "property of zayn" with an arrow pointing to his crotch. There are crowns and roses weaved through the letters of her name, and to her credit there is only one heart. 

"You had to put the arrow?" He's smiling. He loves it, she's sees right through him. "Perv." 

She shrugs, smirk playing on her lips. "All of you is mine, but that especially. My favorite part, you know." 

"That's a very sweet thing to say, wife." His tone is dry, obviously sarcastic. Rolls his eyes and everything. 

"Very sweet." Mrs. Horan agrees. 

He eyes her, game now forgotten background noise. "Kiss it, then." 

She would love nothing more than to kiss it, honestly. But. "Not like this. Paint will get in my hair, then I know somehow it's going to end up on my floor and- no. Not here." 

This is a brand new strand woven bamboo floor. They really need to invest in more rugs. And- woah. When did she become such a responsible adult? 

Niall must be thinking the same thing, because he smiles like he wants to laugh at her. Instead, he pushes himself up, grunting a little as he does. 

"Yeah, yeah. Come help me wash this off." 

Zayn meets him in their bathroom after she puts her paints and brushes away. He's already in the shower, so naturally she peeks her head in. It's a nice view, even with black and blue paint dripping from his body. 

"Turn around." She startles him. He opens his eyes and scrunches his nose at her. "Lemme see that cute butt." 

Niall doesn't say anything, wordlessly reaches for her, indicating he'd like her to join him. She would love to. Quickly she strips off and ties up her hair. The look on Niall's face when he sees her naked, (literally everyday) is such a confidence boost for her. He always stares, sometimes he says things like "damn baby" but usually he silently admires. 

Zayn opens the end of the curtain where the spray is, adjusting the water so it's hotter before she gets in. Niall always takes lukewarm showers compared to her, who prefers them scalding hot. 

"Ah! What the fuck, trying to cook me alive?" 

His wife rolls her eyes and steps in, commenting casually that he's already hot enough. She starts rubbing away her masterpiece with her hands, smearing it before the water rinses it away. Sad. His chest and abs feel hard under her fingers though, and that isn't sad at all. 

"Turn around." He orders quietly, dick already standing hard between them. 

The second she obeys, rough hands are on her cheeks, squeezing and spreading them. Zayn arches for him, bracing herself against the tiles. 

"It always looks so perfect," baby daddy groans. 

Baby Momma smirks against her arms. "Yeah?" She prompts. She loves when he compliments her. 

"We should make a sex tape." He comments whilst slapping his cock all over her butt cheeks. 

Hmm. There's an idea. They've taken plenty of pictures of them together, of course they've sent each other solo stuff too but they've never filmed themselves. It would be hot, especially because it would be just for them. Niall is too jealous and possessive to let anyone else see. 

Actually, heat Zayn doesn't know, is that Niall used to record her and send it to Harry, Liam, and Josh a few years ago. They all did that, it was their thing. 

"Yeah? You gonna watch it when you're at work? Listen to me on your headphones while you walk?" It's a hot idea, no doubt. But... he'd have to last longer than he has been for it to be any good. 

Niall pushes inside her, hands tight on her waist. "Could sell it, make us rich." He bluffs. 

Zayn pushes back, meeting his thrust. "We are very good looking people," she agrees. 

They're already pretty wealthy though.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is basically the chapter that inspired the whole time jump thing. Larry's gonna go through some shit here. (I don't know where this chapter came from but I wrote it in like 2 hours which is good for me so hopefully my inspo is back) 
> 
> Don't hate me. Cos I love you. Xoxox
> 
> Ps trigger warning? Harry Is drunk and mean to a baby. :/ verbally not ever physically.

"Leave the clothes at the door." Harry demands from where he's lounging on the bed, arms folded behind his big stupid head. 

Louis rolls her eyes, turning around so he can see Zaidan on her hip. Little man just had a bath, now it's the girls turn. Except, they think they're grown now so they prefer showers. Whatever, at least Zaidan is still auntie Louis' baby. 

Zaidan smiles sleepily at his uncle from the comfort of his aunts arms and the fluffy towel he's wrapped in. He likes it here. 

"How did this even happen?" Harry loves, absolutely loves his nephew but come on man. "The girls were supposed to spend the night over there. We were going to have no kids, now we're stuck with an extra one." 

That is what Louis has been saying this whole time. An extra baby cuts into their time together, which as of lately has been very slim. 

"I thought you wanted another baby in the house?" Louis pretends to be distracted by lotioning Zayn's baby.

Zaidan's eyes are heavy. The bath and this massage is really doing him in. Plus he had a big day at the zoo and the park when he played with his dad. He'd exhausted. 

"Yeah, one of ours. How's that going to happen if you're playing nanny, letting the kid sleep in our baby making sanctuary?" 

She has never been more unattracted to him than she is now, honestly. The time Serenity put dark purple lipstick on him included and everything. 

"I'm on my period." She rolls her eyes again. Proof that they really don't do anything, because her period ended last week. 

Harry groans, loud and annoying. Louis ignores him for the most part. 

***

"Hey, hey Serenity!" Harry calls for his daughter, who is playing outside. The big girl is riding her bike up and down the street while her sister and cousin play with dolls on the porch. 

"Leave her alone, Haz. She's riding her bike," Louis tries to save her family any embarrassment from the neighbors. Harry's drunk already. It's not even four in the afternoon and he's drunk. 

It's around three thirty in the afternoon and the Horan's have yet to come get their kid, also. Harry scoffs at the thought. His house isn't a daycare. His wife isn't a damn baby sitter. 

"Serenity!" He yells again as she rides by. 

She just got her training wheels off last week and she is so proud of herself. She just loves riding her bike! 

"Come here!" Harry calls again. 

What the fuck does he want, Louis wonders. 

"No!" Serenity is busy. Can't he see that?

"Excuse me? Come here." Harry continues to yell in front of their house. 

Louis hasn't put her hands on him in quite some time, but he's really pushing it right now. He's bothering the kids whilst simultaneously embarrassing them. Not that Louis necessarily cares what her neighbors think, but yeah actually she kind of does. She doesn't need them talking about them anymore than they already do. . 

"Nope!" Serenity turns around in the driveway and speeds off again. 

"Leave her be, Harry." Louis wants him to go in the house, honestly. If she tells him that though, then he's going to pick a whole different fight with her. 

"Fucking bitch." Louis' husband mutters. "She never fucking listens to me," he turns to Louis, gesturing to their daughter who has obviously heard what he said, as she is frozen on her bike. 

She may only be six, but she knows that's a bad word. Not only a bad word, but a mean word. 

"Upt-oh," Zaidan even knows it's a bad word, and he's three. 

"Excuse me?" Louis... is in shock. Pure shock. Harry is so different when he's drunk. 

He used to be caring, now he's the exact opposite. 

"You cannot talk to her like that!" Louis' blood is boiling. As angry as she is she has to watch what she says around the impressionable ears listening to her. "She is six years old, Harry! You can't say shit like that to her!" 

"I should take her bike away for being an ass hole." Harry's eyes are glossy from the alcohol he's consumed. 

/I should take your life away for calling my daughter a bitch.../ she would say, if her kids weren't listening. 

"Renity is not a butt hole, daddy! Hers is riding hers bike." Aubree tries to explain to her daddy, her favorite person in the whole world. 

"Get in the house, now." Louis growls at her husband. 

Harry scoffs, laughing at his wife's audacity. She's so bossy, why? He pays the bills around here. And for what? Because she doesn't even put out anymore. Harry's living in a fucking prison. 

"You get in the house." He responds childishly. 

Louis scoops up Zaidan and the doll he was playing with. "Come on guys, we're gonna go play in the backyard." 

Serenity rides her bike up the driveway to the back, silent with tears in her little eyes. Louis' heart is so broken for her little baby girl. She doesn't deserve this. 

"Because daddy is being mean?" Aubree questions. Always questioning, this one. Regardless she collects her dolls and stands anyway. 

"I'm not being mean. How am I being mean?" Harry raises an eyebrow at his blonde daughter. 

/Blonde./ Probably not even his. He isn't blonde. Yet another kid he supports that doesn't belong to him. 

"Cause you're bothering my sister!" Aubree may adore her dad, but she will always defend her big sister. She is five years old and not afraid to yell at the man she loves the most in her big sisters honor. 

"Your sisters bad and doesn't listen!" Harry pathetically yells back at the child. 

"Let's go Aubs, come on." Louis holds the door open for her, ushering the little girl inside. 

"He's a bad boy." Zaidan babbles, only people who have been around him can understand what he's saying when he talks. His little voice is adorable. 

"A very bad boy." Aunt Louis agrees as she carries him outback. She sets him down so he can run off to do whatever he's gonna do. Their backyard is a playground, damn near. 

"Ren," Louis sighs, taking a seat next to her biggest baby on the patio swing. "Your dad didn't mean what he said, okay?" 

Because deep down she knows Harry will regret this when he sobers up. He will be in the dog house for this for the rest of their life but he knows he's wrong. Louis knows he knows. 

Serenity just sniffles in response. 

"He's a jerk." Comforting her child is her first priority. When Serenity is over it (or at least moved on) Louis is going to rock Harry's world. "Don't listen to him, okay? Boys are stupid. All of them." 

"Can he move out like Niall and Liam?" Serenity's voice is thick with emotion. 

"We need him to pay the bills so mom can spend her money on toys and fun stuff." Louis nudges her daughter in hopes of cheering her up. "How about we put him in the basement?" 

Serenity nods, and Louis wasn't kidding. 

***

Zayn comes in the backyard a little while later. Louis doesn't know what time it is. She doesn't have her phone and none of them wanted to go back in the house. 

"Lou? I've been texting you all day," Zayn swings open the sliding door, walking out onto the deck. 

Zaidan is napping on the swing, laying on top of Louis while the girls play baseball with Harry's golf clubs and a rock. It seems dangerous, and Louis should probably put a stop to that but they're having fun and so far no one is hurt. 

"My phones in the house." Louis mumbles, placing a kiss to the top of Zaidan's sweaty head. All this hair... "Niall with you?" 

Zayn nods. "How longs he been asleep?" 

Louis shrugs. "About twenty minutes?" Gently, trying not to jostle him too much, she passes the boy over to his mother. She ought to miss him. "Keep and eye on them, and do not let them in the house until I come back, okay?" 

"What? Why?" 

Louis ignores her best friends questions and goes off in search of her husband. He isn't hard to find. He's in the kitchen, slurring something to Niall, who looks genuinely concerned for his friend. Good. He should be. 

"Oh, now you wanna come back?" Harry notices Louis before Niall does. 

"Lou, why's he like this right-" 

The sound of Louis slapping Harry across the cheek cuts Niall off. 

"What the fuck!" Harry spits, holding his face. 

It should say a lot on how much Louis has grown and matured that the assault stops there. She turns to Niall, who is now standing back, face stupid with confusion. 

"You get him out of my house," Louis points a finger at Niall, as if her husband being an alcoholic is his fault. "Before I break every bone in his body with my bare hands." 

With that being said, she goes to her room to pack his shit. This is temporary, obviously. When he's sober they'll talk, for now she wants him out. She packs pajamas and work clothes, even his toiletries. Enough socks and underwear for a week. She tucks a note in the front of his backpack, where his phone and charger are. 

It's a simple but serious note, telling him to get his shit together or the three of them will leave. 

"Why should I leave?" Harry grumbles, taking his bag from Niall as he stomps out of the house. "It's my house. I pay for everything around here, and I get no respect!" 

Louis watches as Zayn makes a displeased face at her husband while they walk Harry and Zaidan to the car. She knows her best friend doesn't want Harry there, but fuck it. Louis doesn't want him here either. 

"Ask me when's the last time I got a damn blow job around here, Niall? Go ahead, ask me!" Harry demands, stalling in front of the car door. 

"Just get in the car, bro. We'll talk about it later," Niall tries, rubbing his eyes behind his sunglasses. 

"2006!" Harry spits, pointing an accusing finger at Zayn. 

None of them knew each other until four years after 2006, so. 

 

The next day Louis ignores every call and text from her husband, including the calls from the Horan's landline. He's sorry, he says. He's done drinking, he claims. He'd never purposely hurt his family, he promises. 

Louis knows. But she ignores him. She takes the girls out for dinner and a movie to get their minds off of anything negative going on at home. It helps distract her for a bit too, if she's honest. 

On the third day of her ignoring his calls and messages, he comes back. Louis comes home to find him sitting on the sofa. 

*

"Daddy!" Aubree is happy to see him, her blonde pigtails bounce as she runs over to him. 

Serenity, however, clings to Louis and stares at him. 

"Hey, Aubs!" Harry picks her up, hugging the little girl close to him. "I've missed you so much, honey." 

Louis rolls her eyes to remind them not to fucking cry. She kneels down to Ren's height. "Do you want to go talk to him?" She asks gently. Quietly. 

The little girl shakes her head no. She's been fine, really. Probably because Louis has been distracting them and keeping them busy. Eventually she'll talk to Harry. She'll have to. For now though, Louis takes her backpack and tells her to go play in her room. 

"I don't think my sister Renity likes you," Aubree whispers to her dad. "But I missed you a lot! Where did you been?" 

"I was helping uncle Niall," Harry lies. "But I'm home now. I'm very excited to see you, and play with you! But, can I talk to your mom for a minute, and I'll come get you when I'm done?" 

Aubree clings to his neck, little arms squeezing him tight as she nods. When she pulls away she puckers her lips for a kiss before she slowly travels to her room. 

Then they're alone. Louis misses him, but now that he's here she's uncomfortable. She wants him gone again, and that's something she thought she'd never feel about Harry. 

"Does she hate me?" Her husband asks after a few long seconds of silence. 

Louis shakes her head, sighing as she comes around the sofa to take a seat on it. On the opposite side, as far from him as possible. 

"No, I think she's just scared." Louis answers truthfully. 

The thing about Serenity is that she's so sassy and witty (like her mother) that sometimes people (who aren't her mother) forget that she's only a little kid. She's got a mouth on her, but she's sensitive. Her dad calling her a bitch, and an ass hole hurt her feelings. Her daddy is never supposed to say stuff like that to her, or about her. 

"I feel like shit." He runs his hands through his hair. There are bags under his eyes, he looks so tired. 

"You should." 

He nods. "I think because of my feelings towards you lately I sort of took it out on her, you know? And that, shit Lou. That was so fucked up and wrong of me. I love her with my entire heart. She's my world, my baby girl. I would probably be a drop out, selling drugs or in prison if she wasn't here," 

His voice is all thick and pitchy, like he's trying not to cry. Louis understands completely, because if she didn't get pregnant when she did her life would be different too. They both grew up hella fast because of Serenity. For Serenity. 

"It was a mistake." Louis gives him the benefit of the doubt. "You're absolutely not forgiven though." He won't be for while, either.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time I had a cowboy Niall kink. I think it's coming back;/

"Why are you so stinkin' handsome?" Zayn asks her son seriously over dinner.

Before the boy can answer, good old uncle Harry chimes in. "Cause he looks like his mom." He throws shade at his best friend.

Niall shrugs it off, spooning more of Zayn's famous home-made-because-I-made-it-at-home Mac and cheese into his mouth. "He's got my nose. And ears."

"I didn't get your nose, I just have my nose!" Zaidan's dad is so silly. Zaidan didn't get his nose yet, he's all the way across the table!

"Your nose looks like my nose." Zayn pouts at her son. She likes when people say her baby looks just like her because he does, he is beautiful and handsome and smart.

"Yeah." Zaidan nods. "My nose looks like my nose and my nose looks like your nose." He says to his mom, then... "and my nose looks like daddy's nose and my papa's nose."

Yeah, no. Zaidan's nose definitely does not look like Yaser's nose.

"You look like your mom." Harry tells the boy. "You're gonna be hot. Like your mom."

Zayn would be so fucking annoyed right now of she wasn't busy being turned on by Niall's jealous face.

"Back off, before I have my son take you out back and teach you a lesson."

"Who looks like me," Zayn mumbles, pushing her food around on her plate.

"Calm down," Uncle Harry rolls his eyes, stabbing at the food on his plate. "He already knew his mom is hot."

Both men are a little grumpy. Niall because Zayn is probably (definitely) getting on his nerves because Harry is here, and the usual clingy shit too that annoys him but it's too cute for him to actually get upset about. And Harry, because Zayn made it very clear to Niall, who was ordered to make it very clear to Harry that he isn't getting drunk here. Louis told Zayn what happened, and while she isn't directly involved Zayn wants to fucking spit on him. Her poor little Serenity babe.

Seeing his mom and dad's irritated faces and Uncle Harry's smirking one, Zaidan joins in on the fun. "You hot mommy." He giggles.

Aw. Now that's just cute... "Thanks bug."

"The key to a happy life," Niall passes his wisdom on to his first born son with a mouth full of meat. "Is a hot wife. Your mom is my hot wife,"

It's all fun and games... until somebody's feelings are hurt. Harry pushes his plate away and stands up.

"I'm not hungry anymore." He excuses himself, probably going back outside to smoke or something.

Niall looks at Zayn with a guilty looking face. Fuck that though.

"Um," Zayn turns her head to the side like a confused puppy. "Who does he think is going to take his plate to the sink?" Cause this isn't a hotel, and she isn't the maid.

***

"Baby. _Babbbbyyyy,_ baaaab-"

"Oh my god, what?" Niall snaps. He wants to be irritated at his pestering wife but he isn't. She's so annoying but her stupid little face is so cute.

"Well, don't ignore me and I won't have to call you so many times," she reasons, all in his face while he watches television.

"What do you want, Zayn?" He's so tired. Zayn woke him up early with sex and breakfast, early enough that he wasn't even late to work.

Zaidan is laying in the other sofa with his blanky and bottle, all comfy in pajamas with he watches television too. He looks so peaceful, almost asleep and scratching at his little belly. He is the greatest plan Niall has ever had.

"I went a signed up for school today," she proudly informs him.

"Yeah, you've only been attempting the same online course for two years now." Harry sleepily adds his very unwanted input from the recliner where he too is watching Toy Story.

Who the fuck asked him?

Niall rolls his eyes but doesn't comment on it. "Oh yeah?" He's interested in her day, usually he has more to say but he's very, very tired.

"Yeah. I wanna do massage therapy. It only takes a couple weeks and it doesn't cost-"

Niall, who's been staring at her since to word "massage" came out of her mouth, cuts her off. "You're fuckin' funny, you should go to comedy school with that one,"

Zayn scrunches her eyebrows, genuinely confused. "What?"

"No fucking way are you massaging other guys. Or girls, fuck that. No. Pick something else, where people around you have their clothes on."

She knew he would say that. She thought of this exact conversation in her head this morning, then she thought, "No, my husband is supportive. He will support me and my career choices." What a joke.

"I'm not going to see any private parts or anything," Zayn tries to reason.

"I didn't even want doctors down there when you had my son," he loves reminding everyone that Zaidan is his son. As if Zayn would ever forget that.

  
"Nobody is going to see me though! I'll have clothes on-" why wouldn't she?

"But people with be naked around you." Harry is on Niall's side, naturally. Fucking bitch. He's busting adding on to the list of reasons Zayn no longer likes him. (But will always love him.) "You're too hot to be around someone naked without them getting a boner."

Niall holds out his hand, Harry just basically summed up exactly what he was thinking.

"Like," Harry carries on. "Last summer when you wore that black and gold bikini..." He shakes his head, unaware of the glare Niall is burning into him. "I could control myself, _I_ was fine. _Louis_  however,"

"Hey Harry, I think we fucking get it alright?" Niall can't listen to anymore of this shit. And as for that damn bikini- it was thrown out after she was thoroughly fucked in it. Now she can only wear ugly one pieces unless the top covers her stomach.

"When are you going home?" Zayn snaps. It's not like she'd be able to convince Niall her massage therapy career is a good idea if Harry wasn't here... but Niall's jealousy would have been a lot cuter. "You have an entire house, and a family." For now.

"Louis isn't answering my calls!" Harry yells, startling Zaidan back awake as he gets up to storm off. "You don't have to be such an insensitive bitch!"

There goes Niall's night. He was so relaxed and ready for bed, too.

"He needs a butt spanked." Zaidan informs his mother, popping the bottle back in his mouth.

"Yes, he does." Zaidan knows what's up. Zaidan has never, ever had a spanking but he's been threatening once or twice. By Niall. Zayn usually makes him deal with punishments and shit.

"You know he doesn't mean that right? He's going through some mental, emotional shit right now,"

Zayn rolls her eyes. Whatever it is, he needs to work it the fuck out. "He can say whatever he wants to me, it what he says to his kids that he needs his butt spanked for."

***

A few days after Harry leaves, Niall is late coming home. When Zayn calls him, he acts all suspicious and secretive and hangs up. So naturally she calls Louis, who confirms Harry is home (though she makes it very clear she wishes he wasn't) and Niall isn't there.

His truck rolls into the driveway an hour or so after Zayn and Zaidan have eaten dinner, which ended up being baked chicken instead of grilled because Zayn doesn't dare to touch Niall's grill after what happened last time-

("How much fucking lighter fluid did you did you put my _electric_  grill Zayn? The lighter fluid is for the fire pit, not the fucking _grill!_ For fucks sake!")

Anyways. Liam of all people is the one driving his truck, Niall apparently in the much larger, newer one behind it.

"My daddy's home." Zaidan announces, smiling all big and happy where he's sitting next to his mom on the front porch. She was trying to smoke but Zai wanted to come outside with her and somehow they brought trucks out here.

"Is that Uncle Liam, Zai Zai?" Zayn is smoking a cigarette, however. The blunt can wait a little longer.

At that, Zaidan stands up and squints his eyes. He knows that running off of the porch while cars are driving is bad and he isn't allowed to do it, ever. He's such a good boy. He remembers Uncle Liam the same way he remembers any of Niall's friends. They're nice and let him hangs out with them, and they call him "big guy" a lot but he doesn't remember specific details about them. Nonetheless, he is excited to see Uncle Liam.

"Yeah, that's my Daddy's friend Uncle Liam!" Zaidan smiles. Liam might as well be Zaidan's friend, screw Niall.

Liam hops out first, while Niall is still parking. "Sorry Zayn, I tried to talk him out of it but it looks like you got another new toy that comes before you," he winks.

Zayn snaps her fingers. "Darn."

"A toy for me?" Zaidan yells so Liam can hear him. He can't, because Zaidan's voice is a tiny little adorable squeak.

"It's another truck, baby. See daddy's new car?"

Zaidan nods, brushing hair out of his face with the back of his hand. Zayn's gotta woman up and cut that shit soon. "It's not a toy, it's a big car for driving."

Her baby is so smart. He's not even four yet. Zayn has never met a baby smarter than here, Louis' included.

"Hey bud," Niall always gets excited to teach Zaidan guy stuff. The door to his new truck is still open as he's sprinting to the porch, which probably means he's gonna let Zai climb around in it to show it off for a bit, even if it's just to his three year old.

"Hi daddy!" Zaidan is bouncing up and down, happy as shit that his dad and Liam are here. He looks at Zayn, wordlessly asking if he can get off the porch to meet his dad halfway. When mom nods her approval, he books it towards his dad.

Niall scoops him up, carrying him back to the porch so he can kiss his wife hello real quick.

"You wanna go play in dad's new car, bud?"

Zayn rolls her eyes, nothing but fondness and love for her man as she puckers her lips.

"When is mom getting a new car?" She teases. She doesn't need a new car, but neither did he. She wants a fast car. One that so obnoxious people would expect a man to be driving it just so she can preen at the looks on their stupid faces when she gets out.

"When mom goes to buy one." He narrows his eyes at her, suspicious. "Don't touch my trucks."

Zayn drove his truck a few times and got a sexual punishment for it almost every time after. One time they raced while Niall was in Zayn's car. He won't admit it, but Zayn thinks that (although he never, ever /allows/ her to drive his truck), seeing her drive his truck does something for him. He's always hard when she gets out, hence the sexy punishments.

"Nanna says you have to share, or you'll be a bad boy." Zaidan reminds Niall what Maura told him.

Maura has told Niall this probably a million times by now, Zaidan literally once. Ridiculous.

Zayn smirks at their son taking her side. What a good boy, the little lad. Niall however, scoffs.

"Let me tell you something, boy."

Liam joins them, sitting next to Zayn and swiping her cigarette. He's not even a smoker... He's probably waiting on the other smoke that's been waiting patiently beside her.

"There are three main important things in a man's life,"

Zaidan absorbs this knowledge, all of it. He listens to everything Niall tells him and most of what Zayn tells him. He's a bright boy, good memory and shit.

"His babies," he pokes Zaidan belly. Zaidan giggles, Zayn coos. "His woman, and his cars."

"My mom is your woman?" He questions.

Liam snorts, Niall ignores his friend and nods.

"Then why can't your woman drive your trucks?" Zayn mocks Zaidan's confused tone, to which he adds a little; "yeah?"

"Cause women can't drive." Niall answers effortlessly, already walking back towards the new toy with Zaidan.

 _"Niall James!_ Don't you teach him that!" Wait until Maura hears about this during her and Zayn's nightly chats. Niall is in so much trouble!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this is getting boring to you I'm sorry :/ 
> 
> Also. I deleted my kik so if I used to talk to you on there please let me know a different way we can keep in contact. :) xoxox

Harry's home. It's sad, Louis thinks, how she can look at him and not feel bursting affection in her chest that was there for so many years. She never thought it'd be this way with them, and it's sad. They were a love story. 

And even though she probably should, she won't leave him. Partially because of the kids, they still adore him. Serenity too, she's just rightfully mad at him. Also because she can't afford to live on her own but mostly because she can't actually live without him. Or yet, she can. She would probably fine without him around, and that scares her. 

He left before dinner. To where, she doesn't know- which is proof itself that she care anymore. Aubree was sad so Serenity told jokes and stories to distract her. She's a good sister. 

It's after ten, Louis is in bed lotioning her hands before bed while she watches another The Walking Dead rerun when Harry comes in. For the most part, she ignores him, though she's very aware of his presence. He reeks. 

"Aren't you going to ask where I was?" 

Louis just stares at him. He's drunk again, and he's undressing. Nobody told him he could start sleeping in here again, he's got clothes in the basement. Mindlessly, she closes her robe tighter over her chest. 

Harry watches her hands as she does so, glaring at them. "Are you... are you serious?"

Again, Louis says nothing. 

"You- you're scared of me?" He realizes, even in his drunken state. 

She's not, and she hasn't got a clue where he came up with that conclusion. She's more or less uncomfortable around him, because she doesn't know how to act anymore. 

"I'm not going to force myself on you!" He spits. "You think I'd ever have to do that? There are plenty of women who will give me what you won't," 

Now, Louis is intrigued. "Oh yeah?" She laughs. 

From a distance, Harry's a catch. Once you get to know him, hell. He's still a catch. But there's also the part of him that drinks too much and doesn't care what happens when he's had too many. 

Louis knows for a fact he could find somebody else, who like he said: would give him what he wants (sex, more babies) but he won't. Just like Louis won't. They've ruined each other for other people and Louis is fine with that. It's either Harry or nobody for the rest of her life. 

"I've had multiple offers." He replies, snarky and cocky. 

Yeah, she bets. She gets an offer every time she walks out of the though, so she's not at all impressed. She goes back to watching television, done with her husband and his bull shit. 

"That's it? That's your reaction to me telling you I cheated on you?" 

Louis' heart thuds so hard it hurts. Her entire body is shaking and tingling. "You what?" 

"My whole life-" he cuts himself off by getting stuck in the shirt he's trying to take off. "Is a complete disappointment. A wife who won't fuck me, kids who don't respect me. A job that won't give me a raise. You won't even give me a baby, a chance to have a junior to carry on my legacy." 

He's rambling and very drunk. What he just said, about him cheating, better be a missworded sentence or hypothetically spoken. 

"When did you cheat on me, Harry?" That's disgusting, and absolutely where she draws the line. 

Harry's face contorts to a look of disgust and confusion. "I would never cheat on you! Everyone is plain compared to you." He mutters, as if he's angry about it while climbing into bed next to her. He doesn't touch her though, so she supposes it's okay for him to stay in here just one night. Tomorrow, it's back to the basement. 

***

"Go brush your teeth and get dressed for school." Louis tells the girls after they've finished their breakfast. 

She doesn't even have to tell them twice. They love school on Fridays, apparently they get to watch movies or some shit. Louis' on the list to buy snacks for both of their classes twice a month. 

"Last one there's a rabbit snake!" Aubree declares, running ahead of her sister who is leisurely walking to the bathroom. 

Harry's look of confusion matches Louis'. 

Anyways. 

"Lottie is spending the night tonight, so you can either not drink or drink somewhere else." She's not letting her pregnant baby sister be around his bull shit. 

"What's she staying for?" Harry ignores the drinking comment, sipping coffee from his mug. 

Louis collects the dishes and starts loading the dishwasher. It hits her then that this is the first morning all school year that she isn't rushing out the door so she isn't late. It's nice getting up on time. Kinda. 

"Because I want her to. She's gonna be here a lot after she has the baby," 

Harry nods. It's not like he has a say in anything, but Lottie is actually moving in for a while after she has the baby. This house is less crowded than their mothers, way more quiet too on the count of Ernie and Doris being younger than Ren and Aubs. 

***

Harry doesn't come home from work, as suspected. Louis isn't worried, he's just at Niall's. Zayn made it very clear she is annoyed because Harry, Liam, /and/ Josh are over there. 

It's fine. Louis told him not to come here if he was drinking, it's not like he had to call or text or anything. It's not a big deal. At all. 

"Mom," Serenity whispers as Louis tucks her in and gives her goodnight kisses. Aubree is already asleep in the bed next to them. 

"What, baby," Louis pets over her soft little curls. She looks so much like Harry, which Louis has accepted but is still semi bitter about. 

"My dad doesn't love me, he only loves Bree because she's a baby." 

Louis has visions of her ripping Harry's throat out with her teeth and feeding it to Serenity as she licks up the blood. She has to literally shake her head to snap herself out of it. 

"That's not true honey, he loves you with all of his heart. I love you more though, because girls are better at everything than boys, especially loving their little babies." Louis assures the little girl, kissing her little button nose. 

Serenity smiles. "I love you mommy." 

"I love you more baby. When daddy gets home from work I'll have him come kiss you goodnight, okay?" 

Poor girl. Harry needs to get his shit together. 

"No," baby girl sighs, pulling the covers up higher. "It's okay. I'll be asleep." 

Sadness is everywhere in this house, especially in the living room where Lottie is eating hot dogs and ice cream, sniffling at the movie on the screen. It's fucking Napoleon Dynamite. 

"Oh, Lots." Louis pouts, shuffling over to go comfort her. She definitely doesn't miss these days. Except, Louis was never really sad. She was always angry and horny. 

"I just feel bad for him." Little sister wipes her eyes. "I hope my kid doesn't turn out a loser," 

Louis knows the feeling. Luckily her kids are fucking awesome like her. 

"Well, if he's anything like Rob he definitely won't be boring," Robert is, or was Lottie's boyfriend of a few years. He's like part of the family by now, but Lots is like Louis and keeps finding reasons to break up with him. 

"Mmm, yeah. He won't be like Rob." Lottie quickly shuts that down. 

"That's what I said, and look what happened. Serenity is identical to pictures of Harry at age six, Aubree acts just like him-" 

Harry and Serenity's hospital pictures side by side are so identical they almost look like the same picture. It's ridiculous. At least Aubree looks like her mom, minus the blonde. 

"My baby isn't going to be like Rob, because Rob isn't the dad." 

Louis didn't want to say it about her own baby sister, but she knew was a little hoe. She's heard the rumors, hell, Louis has even picked her little fast ass up in the middle of the night when she was too drunk to sneak back in. 

It's not a shock, is what Louis means. 

"Do you know who it is? The dad," 

Not to brag, but Louis herself had no doubt the kid was Harry's. After Harry finally got her to crack and she experienced how good that shit was, she was addicted. Those were the good old days. 

"Ah, no one. He's- yeah. No one." 

The older, wiser, cooler sister makes a knowing face, leaning back on the armrest all nonchalant. "Ah, so I know him then." 

Maybe it's Liam. They'd make cute babies... Poor Dani though. Since they're like, engaged or whatever. Whatever. She's a nice girl, she can find someone new. 

Lottie shrugs, cradling her belly with both hands now. Little baby Tommo is in there, and Louis is so excited to meet him, even if he isn't the light skinned Prince Louis imagined him to be. Rob had one job. 

"Well, does he know he's the dad?" 

When Louis found out she was pregnant with Serenity she broke up with Harry. She doesn't actually remember why, because she was more than excited to have her baby. Maybe she didn't want Harry to steal her quality time... oh how things have changed. 

"Uh. Yeah. But he can't like, raise it or whatever. He knows but he didn't want it. He offered abortion money like right away, and yeah. No." 

Exactly what Harry bitch ass mom did. 

Louis kisses Lottie's temple, trying to be comforting and compassionate. "And Rob knows he isn't his?"

Lottie nods. That's all Louis really wanted to know. Doesn't matter anyway, Louis will always be there for her sister and her little nephew. 

***

Harry comes home the next morning with flowers and chocolates, an obvious sign he knows he fucked up. 

"I'm sorry," he pleads, down on his knees. "I'm sorry for everything. I love you so much, you're my world." 

Serenity stares at him, shoving another expensive chocolate in her mouth. "Did you bring me a coffee too?" She gives her dad a look, the same expecting yet bored look Louis gives, which is usually followed by a shameful look that always makes him disappointed in himself. 

Not today, because yes. He does have the hot chocolate. 

"Extra marshmallows." He nods, handing her the cup. 

"Uh!" Aubree squawks, stomping her foot. Where the fuck is her presents and treats? This is no fair! 

"If you forgive me, and give me a kiss and a hug, I'll take you to Chuck E Cheese," the dad bribes. 

Louis stands off to the side, watching as she nurses her own cup of actual coffee. Lottie is still in bed, probably will be for a while. 

"This is very not fair!" Aubree yells, looking at her mom. She expects mommy to handle this, make it right like she always does. "I like Chuck E Cheese and coffee and I didn't get no chocolates!" 

"I kind of felt like going to the toy store today..." She's milking it. Definitely Louis' spawn. No mix up there. 

"Of course. We'll go wherever you want, you don't even have to brush your hair," desperate daddy agrees. He just wants his baby, hell, his family to love him again damn it. 

"What to hell!" Aubree pulls on her soft blonde hairs, super frustrated. "I didn't even get toys since Christmas, and it's not Renity's birthday!" She begs her mom to see and fix this injustice. 

"And Bree can come?" Serenity would never leave her sister out. 

"Yeah!" Harry quickly agrees. His wallet, who sounds a lot like Louis coincidentally, is already yelling at him but there is no limit on buying back your kids love. "Zaidan too, if you want." 

Serenity quickly shuts that down. "No, just the princesses today." She informs, hopping off of the chair to go get dressed. 

Zaidan has a whole extra room just to play in at his house. Why would Serenity invite him on her shopping spree? That's stupid. 

"For you, my lady." Harry swiftly pulls out a smaller, pink box of chocolates for Aubree. Blondie is satisfied, as expected. She kisses her daddy on each cheek before joining her sister. 

Harry turns to his wife next, but before he pulls out another gift she calls him out.

"Are you just getting in?" It's nine in the morning. Her and Lottie didn't pass out until after three... 

"Eh, kind of? I fell asleep at Niall's," he scratches his head, still on his knees. 

Louis nods, folding her arms over her chest. "You're drinking still?" 

Busted. The guilty look on his face says it all. Plus the fact that Zayn snitched on him. "Louis-" 

"You come in here with gifts like it's going to change anything, it's not. Because tonight you're going to get drunk again and become the same ass hole you've been for the past year." Facts. 

Harry sighs, defeated. "Look, Louis I-" 

"No." She doesn't want to hear it. "Take my girls out. Give them a good day while you're sober. They deserve it, and I deserve a break. But if they aren't in this house by six, smiling and happy," she shakes her head, smiling to herself. "You will regret the day you ever laid eyes on me." 

The threat doesn't phase him. He's been threatened by her a million and ten times by now. 

"I'll never regret laying eyes on you, Louis. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." 

Yeah, her and a bottle of Jack. Louis rolls her eyes and goes to assist the girls in getting dressed.


	8. Chapter 8

Niall's fingers scratch over his naked belly, sweats hanging low on his waist. It's fucking torture. Zayn shouldn't even be up at this ungodly hour (four in the God damn morning) but Niall is, and she can't sleep in bed without him. (She also can't sleep because she can hear Niall, Liam, Josh, and Harry talking /loudly/ in her kitchen. They are lucky Zai sleeps through anything.) 

"I'm telling you man," Niall's voice rasps. He's tired and drunk, and he's been yelling for the last few hours. "Don't do it." 

Harry shakes his head. He's a very composed drunk... when he's sitting down. "If you love her, absolutely do it Liam." 

Liam laughs at both of his friends, eyes shining bright through the crinkles. He shrugs and takes another sip of his beer, knowing by now not to take relationship advice from any of these losers. 

"I'm gonna be the only one not married." Josh deadpans, staring straight ahead with a blank, realizing look on his face. "You old fuckers are gonna have double dates and dinner parties, and I'll be left out." 

He's already left out, Zayn thinks to herself. So is Andy, and Liam for the most part. They all talk occasionally, but Zayn and Niall and Louis and Harry are the only ones from the group who talk everyday. 

"Getting married was the best day of my life." Harry, who is the youngest here, spreads his wisdom. "Until she stopped putting out, that sucks." 

Niall scrunches his nose, Zayn subtly watches his reactions during this conversation. "Sounds like a you problem. I don't have that fucking problem, bro," he laughs. 

"I'm not marrying her for sex." Liam shakes his head, amused grin on his face. "I don't care if she never has sex with me. I love her, and I'd like to spend my life with her." 

"Aw." Zayn coos. Liam is so sweet. 

"Aw what the fuck, man?" Niall makes a disgusted face before he starts laughing. 

"Wait until it actually happens." Harry nods. 

"No sex?" Josh squawks. "That's fucking miserable, ugh. Ew. Sick, ew." 

Josh has never had a girlfriend longer than two weeks. He's a great guy as far as Zayn is concerned, so obviously relationships just aren't for him. 

"Yeah, listen to this guy." Niall juts his thumb towards Josh. "He's got fucking herpes from raw dogging every bitch who looks at him." 

Harry and Liam laugh at the look on Josh's face. Niall points his finger at him in warning before he can say anything. "Refer to my wife as a bitch and I'll tell everybody what you really have." 

Ooo. Zayn wants to know...

"First of all," Josh defends over Harry and Liam's laughter. "Fuck you, because I told you that in confidentiality, and second. Zayn is a good, kind hearted woman. You're a prick and you don't deserve her." 

Zayn coos again. She's sitting with them, Niall's only standing so she would have a place to sit and they're still talking like she isn't there. But they're saying cute shit about her. So it's allowed. 

"I don't." Niall agrees, soft little smile on his face as he takes another sip of his beer. 

"How's a bastard like you not only get married, but have a good marriage? With a hot wife who actually likes you," Josh continues the banter. It's all good fun, he means no real harm. 

"Zayn always liked him." Harry furrows his eyebrows. Louis always, always always always used to tell Harry all the gossip between Zayn and Niall. Naturally, Harry listened because Harry wanted to get laid. 

"Except for when she liked Justin." Harry recalls. 

This. This is why Zayn does not like him. 

"Which, how the fuck did he end up getting that crazy broad pregnant?" Josh still keeps in touch with Justin here and there. Not often though. Niall is Josh's best friend and it feels weird to actually chill with Justin. 

"Who?" Liam wonders at the same time Niall starts yelling; "Dude she wasn't pregnant by him, it was mine." 

Great. Now Zayn's going to get bitched at for the rest of the week at least for some old shit. 

"I'm talking about Eleanor Calder, I don't know what the fuck he's talking about." Josh raises a questioning eyebrow at the angry Irish man. 

"Everybody is pregnant except for my wife." Harry pouts. 

Maybe, Zayn thinks, because you're at my house getting fucked up all night instead of at your own house sleeping with your family. 

"I thought you meant Zayn." Niall shakes his head, grimace still covering his face. "Why does everybody I know keep fucking with her? Nobody must believe me that she's fucking crazy," 

Liam nods knowingly. "She dated me for two years to be around you. She convinced me to move in upstairs when everybody lived at Harry's even though I could afford my own place." 

"I'm not gonna lie," Josh giggles. "I fucked her once at one of your bonfires and I swear she called me Niall. It was doggy style though, so I couldn't really hear-" 

"Coo-coo for Horan puffs is having a baby with wannabe tatted up Niall, but /Louis/ won't have my baby?" Harry is so outraged. Why does Eleanor get a baby, and he doesn't. Pure bull shit. 

"Did he just say Horan puffs?" Liam mumbles. 

"I'm pretty sure she fucked my friends more than she fucked me the entire time I was dating her." Niall hates Eleanor. He hated Zayn too, when she was messing with Justin because that was such an Eleanor thing to do, but he's somewhat over that now. 

Eleanor is the reason Niall is so possessive of Zayn. Every time Niall turned his back that bitch cheated on him and then when Zayn actually got with his friend... it broke Niall. It made him think all women are the same. He still has anger in him about that shit. It's Zayn's own fault. 

"I don't want to hear this." Zayn says quietly for only her husband to hear. She lived through it, she's seen enough of Niall with Eleanor. 

"You know who else is pregnant?" Josh asks Harry. When Harry looks up at him all sad and questioning, Josh answers: "Not Louis."

Only Niall and Josh laugh at that. Fucking ass holes. 

***

Zayn wakes up to her face being kissed by a very cute boy, her favorite way to wake up. 

"I'm kissing mommy's cheeks and nose and lips so she can wake up." Zaidan informs someone, more than likely his father. 

Zaidan's mommy smiles before she actually opens her eyes, but when she does she gets an eyefull of her sweet, smiling baby boy. His hair is messy from sleep but he's still cuter than anyone else's kid, Zayn is willing to bet money on that. 

"Good morning Mommy's baby." Zayn smiles. 

"Good morning Mommy from your baby." Zaidan kisses her again on the lips. 

She loves her sweet boy so much. 

"Did my baby boy eat breakfast yet?" She has no idea what time it is. The clock is behind her, but Niall and Zai are still in sleep clothes so it can't be too late. 

"Um, yes. An lunch." Zaidan reports. Oh. So it's probably like noon. Cool. 

"Tell mommy why we're waking her up." Niall encourages their son. 

"Ummmm," he looks at Niall, brushing the fringe out of his eyes. "I forgot." He whispers. 

"Who's here?" The dad gives a hint. 

"Um," the baby struggles to remember the name his dad told him. "The buzz?" 

"Bum," Niall whisper. 

Zaidan lights up, happy to relay the message back to mommy who has already heard everything. 

"The bum is here, mommy." 

Zayn rubs sleep from her eyes, already over Niall's shit today. "Stop teaching him that stuff Niall. His name is Uncle Greg, Zaidan. You knew that." 

"Is he not a bum though?" Niall shrugs. Raising a bored eyebrow. 

Zayn chooses to ignore the comment. "Why are you waking me up because your brother is here?" 

"It's your brother, dad?" Zaidan asks literally every time Greg is mentioned. 

"I sure as shit didn't invite him here!" Naturally his wife must have something to do with Gregory showing up unannounced. 

"Keep your voice down, the doors open!" Said wife shushes him. 

"But the window isn't, he's outside."

Zayn rolls her eyes, throwing the blanket over Zaidan's head to cover her naked body until she can get her nightgown on. 

"You left him outside?" Zayn spits. Niall is so fucking immature. 

Niall grimaces at her, uncovering his son. "Yeah? If I open the door he'll see me." 

"Why are you so mean to him?" Zayn shakes her head. She doesn't wait for his answer, just slips on her slippers and runs downstairs while tying her robe. 

"Don't you open that door!" Niall yells, running after her. 

Zayn's not in a playing around mood, so she ditches the slippers and speeds it up, instantly regretting it because this wood floor is fucking cold. 

"I won't dick you for a week Zayn, I'm serious!" Niall threatens.

He's only at the middle of the staircase, Zayn's all the way at the bottom, so she's got time to turn around and glare at him. 

"Threatening me with sex?" She laughs. "Really?" She's been faking it anyway, for the most part. 

"Baby!" Niall's desperate, and Zayn's too fast. "Baby, listen. Listen to me baby, please," 

Intrigued with the begging he's taken to, Zayn stops walking and listens. 

"I had plans for us tonight," he lies. "By the hot tub. It's gonna be real nice, you and me. If you let him in, he won't leave, and it won't be real nice with him watching-" 

Zayn starts walking towards the door again. The hot tub does sounds nice but they both know what happened last time they tried to fuck in there. 

"Alright! You want him in here? Fine. Me and Zaidan are leaving." 

She doesn't fall for his grown man temper tantrum.   
"Hi Greg." She swings open the door for him and goes back after Niall. 

As expected, Greg takes the hint and comes inside.   
"Finally." The older Horan brother mutters. "Hey guys. What's going on?" 

Everybody ignores him, as usual. Zayn finds her boys in her room, Zaidan watching television as Niall gets dressed. 

"Where are you going?" 

Niall whips around, outraged at the betrayal. He thought Zayn was his road dog, his ride or die. "Where are /we/ going?" He gestures between him and their little boy. 

"Zaidan isn't leaving. He's going to spend time with his Uncle." Zayn called him over here, he's just a few hours early. 

"Why would you do that to him? Don't you love him?" Niall is so dramatic. 

"What is your issue with your brother? Let it go. He's family-" 

"He's a loser!" 

Zayn shakes her head and scoops Zaidan up. She takes him downstairs to watch tv with his Uncle, which he seems excited about. Greg always plays with him and talks to him. Zayn goes back upstairs and finally, finally goes to the bathroom. 

Then, of course her husband busts in. 

"So, what? Are you like fucking my brother or something?" 

Zayn sighs. This is too much. She just fucking woke up. 

"When do I have time to fuck your brother? I'm always with you." She begs him to see this. 

"When I'm at work. When you say you're going shopping or to your mom's house." He's serious. He's actually serious...

"You come home at different times everyday." He likes to pop in and act like he forgot something, but Zayn's not dumb. She sees him look around. And he has cameras on the outside of the house that he can watch any time on his phone. 

"And you're always with me if I'm shopping or at my mom's. Don't do that Niall." She loves him so much. He should know better by now. 

But he doesn't, because even if they're just watching movies and a guy is shirtless in the movie Niall goes on and on for hours about her liking it, and how he can rewind it for her. 

"Is that why you're okay with me leaving? So you can have some alone time with your boyfriend?" Niall accuses, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. 

"Yes Niall." Zayn rolls her eyes and wipes her bits, since obviously Niall isn't going to give her any privacy here. "I married you just so I can date brother for the whole five minutes I'm away from you every week." 

Niall glares at her. He isn't in the mood for jokes, doesn't find that to be a joke anyway. 

"I fucking knew it." 

Zayn starts the shower, adjusting the temperature and waiting for it to warm under her hand. 

"Just go. If this is your attitude today just go. I'm not in the mood for it today Niall." 

"Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you." The childish grown man turns the water back to cold. She's still dressed, only her hand is under the water so?? 

"Me finally out of the picture after everything I did for you," 

"It's fascinating how you act like this, but when I mention wanting to have another baby with you that's quickly shut down." Zayn mentions. 

She wants three more kids. It's always a no from Niall. 

"Because last time we were going to have a baby nobody knew if it was mine or my best friends." Always bringing up old shit. 

"The baby was yours. Things have changed since then Niall. We're married, and if after all this time you still don't trust me then I don't know what to do. I don't cheat on you because I don't want to. I love /you/." 

"Then go tell him that." Niall shuts off the water completely. "Right now." He's nervous, and insecure. Zayn knows this, so she does. She goes to the staircase and leans over. 

"Hey Greg?" She yells, eyes on Niall the entire time. 

"Yeah?" He yells back. 

Zayn can faintly hear Zaidan's giggles and a cartoon playing. 

"You know I love your brother right?" 

Greg's silent for a minute, probably confused as fuck. "Uh, okay?" 

"I only love Niall." She reminds her brother in law. 

"And me mommy?" Zaidan includes himself. 

"I only love Niall and Zaidan." She says for Zaidan's sake. 

"I love you too mommy!" Zaidan cheers. She can hear Greg telling him to be careful, so he's probably jumping on the sofa again. 

"See?" Zayn rolls her eyes at her stupid husband before finally getting her shower.


	9. Chapter 9

Louis brings the girls by Zayn and Niall's after work and school. Harry is already home and well, Louis isn't exactly rushing to go see him quite yet. Besides, she's due for a catch up with Zayn and some kisses from Zaidan.

"See babe?" Zayn nods at Louis while pouring their drinks.

Niall's at the breakfast bar eating the sandwich Zayn was making for him when Louis got here. "Huh?"

"That could be me. I could be wearing cute scrubs everyday, instead of just lounging around the house all day like an actual scrub." She explains.

Louis' scrubs are cute today. They're plain pink and grey cheetah print- what is her life that this is the cutest thing she's worn in months. How depressing.

"You're my cute scrub?" Niall tries. Aw.

Zayn twists her lips before ultimately shrugging and accepting it. She gives her husband a gross but cute kiss before joining Louis at the regular table with the beverages.

"Were you talking about being a dental assistant too? Cause if you were, don't. Seriously." Louis likes having a job that seems important, but hates having a job where the boss constantly reminds her that she isn't. She does a lot of bull shit work.

"No, massage therapy." Zayn sadly informs her friend.

"I don't think they were scrubs there, babe." Niall doesn't get this obsession they suddenly have with scrubs.

"How would you know what massage people wear?" His wife would like to know because, uh. Why is he getting massages from other people?

"Massage people." Niall mutters, shaking his head. "I don't know what they wear. On the movies and shit they're always in like, robes or regular shit."

Zayn isn't buying it, but whatever. "Yeah, you probably go to the one that's by the strip club you supposedly never go to but always drive by and peek in."

Honestly. Louis didn't come here to listen to them bicker. Okay, so she's a little salty she doesn't have cute fights with Harry any more. Whatever.

"Yeah, to make sure you ain't in there slinging around your scrubs."

Zayn gasps. "Go away, Niall."

"Yeah." Louis agrees, less playful than Zayn. A lot less. "Seriously. Go away."

"You know she invited Greg over?" Niall tattles, mouth full of sandwich. "Just to have dinner with us? Ridiculous."

He shakes his head all the way out if the kitchen.

"He's such a baby." Zayn says, grossly fond of her husband.

Louis is honestly getting so annoyed here, low key. "I've been needing to talk to you,"

At that, Zayn sits up straighter, more serious now. Well, as serious as one can be with a floppy bun on the side of her head. It's five in the afternoon, why the hell does she still look like she's just rolled out of bed? Louis' day starts at seven fifteen sharp every single morning.

"Okay, of course. What's going on babe?"

Louis... doesn't even want to say it, really. "It's crazy, like mad crazy. Like so crazy you're going to tell me I'm crazy, but I'm not, because it's just a theory. A crazy, but very possible theory."

Her best friend nods, taking her very serious which can either be good or bad. Louis has no idea.

"Ugh!" Louis tries to shake the nerves out but they're still there. "Okay, I'm just. Okay. So Lottie was over the other day, right?"

Zayn nods. "The night all of guys were hanging out here, yeah? Night before last,"

"Right. Well. I was talking to her, and. First of all-time did you know Rob isn't the babies dad?" Louis goes with that first, to get it out of the way and set up the whole theory thing.

"Really?" If Zayn's shocked by that, she should hear the rest. "That's odd. Is that why they broke up?"

Louis shrugs. "They always break up, I think Lot's broke up with him this time though, cause she's pretty confused about the baby not being his I think."

Mrs. Horan is silent for a moment, staring at the table as she processing this information. "Huh. Okay. So who's the dad then? She doesn't know?"

Even Zayn knows Lottie gets around... mostly because Louis tells her but still. Damn.

"She does, but she won't tell me and it's somebody I know..."

The look on Zayn's face says it all. She knows exactly what Louis is thinking.

"Babe, that is crazy. Too crazy. So crazy that only you could come up with an idea like that."

"Harry's been wanting a baby. What other guy do I know that she also knows? At first I was like, Liam. Definitely Liam. But- Liam doesn't like blondes. He barely likes white girls!"

Zayn flushes a little. She knows what he likes. He used to like her, but she was too busy loving Niall.

"Then I'm like, holy shit it's Niall. But Lottie thinks Niall is obnoxious and he's more like a brother to her than he is to Greg, you know? Like, she hides from him at gatherings because she knows she's getting some sort of a speech."

That's true. Niall always has something to say to Lottie about her outfits or her choice in boys, how school was going and why isn't she in college? But he always gives her money afterwards, so that makes up for it. He never has to give those speeches to Fizzy, he gives her money too any way.

"And even if Lottie would, Niall wouldn't. Who does that leave?" Louis pieces the puzzle together for Zayn. "Harry."

"Nope." Zayn shakes her head. Harry may be a dumb ass but he wouldn't cheat on Louis. He wouldn't, especially not with his wife's sister. "There are a lot of other options. Like, probably a neighbor or something?"

Louis shakes her head. "You don't get it. Just the night before Harry was drunk and telling me he didn't care if we had sex because he could get it anywhere or some shit,"

Just to make Zayn believe her theory so she doesn't feel so crazy, Lou is leaves out the part where he said he wouldn't ever cheat on her before he fell asleep.

 _"Ha-Harry_ said that? To _you?"_ Zayn stutters, finding this hard to believe.

"Yes." Louis nods. "My sister is having my husband's baby, Zayn. Who else could it be? And in the morning when Harry got there Lottie wanted to go home right away."

"Harry's annoying, she's pregnant. I don't know Louis," Zayn still tries to make excuses. That's just nuts to her, she doesn't want that to be true. Neither does Louis, because then she'll have to kill all three of them.

All three. As in, Harry, Lottie, and the baby.

***

They get home from Zayn's pretty late. So late, that the girls have already fallen asleep so Louis carries them to bed without showers. They'll just have to take them in the morning.

She debates just going to bed herself, but she's hungry. She didn't eat much at Zayn's and they smoked a little before she left. On her way to the kitchen, she finds Harry on the sofa, watching her.

"Hey." She nods her head in the "sup" kind of way.

"Hi." He responds, soft. Sober, Lou is thinks.

"Did you eat?" Part of her doesn't care, wants to say something mean like "oh that sucks" if he says no but she won't. That'll just start a fight, Lou is doesn't have the energy to fight.

"There's pizza in the fridge." Harry nods.

Louis doesn't eat his pizza. He probably poisoned it or something. She just goes for a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table in hopes to avoid Harry a little longer. That is, until he comes in.

"Where did you guys go today?" He's curious, a little sad. He and Niall must not talk often then.

"Zayn and Niall's."

He nods, standing awkwardly in the door way and fuck, why are they like this? How did they get here? Louis used to get mad and Harry would have a shitty day if they didn't even kiss before they departed in morning. They haven't touched, even on accident in over a week.

"Can I ask you something?" She asks between bites.

Eagerly, Harry nods. "You can ask me anything, Lou."

"Have you slept with anyone else? I won't be mad, it's not like we- you know, anymore." She lies. Just because she doesn't want him doesn't mean she wants other broads, including her fucking sister to have him.

He stares at her for minute, jaw dropped at the audacity of the question. "God, no! I would never! Louis I- probably couldn't, even if I tried!"

Sober him, probably. But what about the him that gets black out drunk and becomes somebody else?  
Louis keeps her eyes down at the table, voice small. "I don't know if I believe that."

"No." Harry demands, coming closer. "No, Louis. I'm a drunk, and an ass hole sometimes but I'm not a cheater. Whatever is going on between me and you won't change that."

They've been dating since Harry was fifteen. He used to cheat on her a lot in the beginning, which triggered her being crazy because no younger guy was going to embarrass her like that. They didn't actually get serious until he was almost seventeen, right before she had Serenity. Harry is twenty two now. With all that they've been through, Louis doesn't quite believe he's only wanted her for six years. Especially as of lately.

"You're the one who brought it up." She shrugs.

It's no fucking coincidence that he says he could get sex from somewhere else the night before Lottie confesses about her baby's father. It can't be.

"What?" Harry asks, annoyed. He's acting like he doesn't remember.

"The other night. You said you could get pussy anywhere you wanted it." She exaggerates his phrasing a little.

Harry tilts his head to the side, considering. "Okay. I suppose I could,"

Wow. Is that supposed that help his case here?

"But that doesn't mean I will."

She's annoyed now, because fuck him. He can get pussy anywhere he wants? While she takes care of his kids, his house, and his bills. Fuck this. Fuck him.

"But you can, because you're not the one who has to worry about feeding _our_ girls dinner and getting them to bed on time, or getting them up in the morning for school. That's all me, so yeah, you've got all the opportunity in the world don't you Harry."

Fucking prick. Her appetite is gone. She puts her mostly full bowl of cereal down the garbage disposal before rinsing it out.

"That's kind of hard for me to do when you don't even want me around." He calls her out.

"Because you're always fucking drunk, Harry! You called my six year old daughter a bitch, why the fuck should I want you around?"

Maybe she's still angry about a lot more than she thought she was. They never actually talk about anything, or fight about it until it's better because who has time for that? Louis has spent her whole life fighting with him and it's not worth it anymore.

"You call her an ass hole all the time," is his only defense. It's weak as fuck though.

"Never to her face!" Yeah, she's guilty of calling Serenity an ass hole. So what. Sometimes she is an ass. She takes after her mother.

"I've apologized for this over and over already!"

Louis rolls her eyes, bumping her shoulder into his arm harder than necessary on her way past. "You're not sorry, you're just a sorry excuse of a man."

Harry lets out a loud, humorless laugh as he follows her. Of course he follows her. "Really! Wow. Okay. So when I'm going through something, you attack me as a man,"

Louis goes in the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. She isn't surprised that he opens it right away, and carries on with washing her face and teeth.

"But remember when you were going through something, and I actually tried to help you?"

What the fucks he talking about?

"Fuck you talkin' about?" She asks, mouth full of toothbrush.

"When Aubree was a baby and I came home to your meltdowns everyday."

Just when Louis thought he couldn't get anymore pathetic. She spits, quickly rinsing her mouth so she can put him in his place real quick.

"Are you really comparing you being an alcoholic to me having _post partum depression_?"

He shrugs shamelessly. "They're both diseases, Louis."

She stares at him in awe, surprised to a whole different level that he's actually this dumb.

"You choose to drink, I didn't choose to be sad."

Fucking ass hole.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niall's pov I like ittttt

Niall has a late start today, meaning he doesn't have to go into work quite as early. He's up anyway though, and takes advantage of his rare early morning free time to nuzzle his wife's neck. She's warm and smells so fucking nice.

Zayn moans in her sleep, bringing her hand to pet the back of his hair without actually opening her eyes. Niall knows this without even having to look at her. But. He needs her to wake up now, so he kisses her neck, light and wet, right at the base. That's her spot. Niall learned that _years_  ago back when they were in high school.

"Baby," his voice croaks.

She loves his morning voice, he knows this. And god- why the hell is her skin so soft? He really, really needs her to wake up.

"Zee, baby." He kisses her some more, trailing his tongue out when he feels her stir.

She's awake.

"I love you." He tells her, only forty percent for persuasion and sixty because he actually means it. He real life loves her so much.

Why the hell else would he be twenty three and married? All this money he makes, he could be anywhere in the world right now. He chooses to be in the home he bought for his family, all for her. He had to lock her ass down.

Zayn moans again, sleepy. But she does tangle her legs around his, so there is hope. (As if there wasn't before. Zayn's always a slut for him.) "Why are you up? It's still dark outside," she complains, eyes still closed.

It's absolutely not dark outside. Light has been peeking through the edges of their curtains for hours.

"You were holding my dick all night," as she often does before she falls asleep.

It's weird. She just likes to hold it, Niall doesn't understand. It's been years that's she's been doing it though, took fucking forever for him to not get hard with her hand around him. Hell, he woke up hard this morning, only took her hand off him to relieve himself in the bathroom and check on their boy, who's sleeping soundly in his own bed.

"It's soft." She says. He pointedly shifts his hips, poking her with his not so soft erection. "It's smooth." She corrects herself, soft smile playing on her full lips.

Niall stares it for a whole two seconds before he can't take it anymore and bites her bottom lip. Zayn moans again, this time not from sleep.

"Gotta wear a condom," she warns him.

He's put a condom on to fuck her probably less than three times since they've started fucking, and it's never last more than four pumps before he ripped it off. So that's definitely not happening.

"Why?"

She probably doesn't want to get up and clean herself after. Just wants to get fucked and go back to sleep, his baby.

"Forgot to take my pill yesterday."

Ugh. That thing. Whatever though. "It'll be fine," he reasons, rubbing his hand over the crotch of her pajamas.

Zayn spreads her legs for him, running her fingers through his hair. She also loves his hair in the morning, she tells him all the time.

"Not if you get mad if I get pregnant." She tells him, voice soft.

She's been talking about having another baby for such a long time now. Fuck, maybe he should just give her another baby. Give her anything she wants, she already gave him everything he wants. Well, he didn't actually give her a choice with Zaidan but. He's a perfect little boy. The best decision Niall ever made, even now Zayn has to agree.

"If it happens it happens." He shrugs.

He's always a softie in the morning, prefers soft and romantic sex compared to in the afternoon or at night, where he wants to slap her and pull her hair, force her to choke on his prick. It's always sweet in the mornings.

She doesn't dwell on it. Doesn't ask if that means they can start trying, because no, they can't. He means exactly what he said, and she must know that by now. She pushes his boxers down enough to get just his cock out, giving it a slow tug before pushing down her own pants and underwear.

"You want your shirt off?" He's already ditched his in the bathroom.

Zayn shakes her head no, just pulling it up enough to expose breasts. Her skin is so soft everywhere, Niall wants to bury his face between them. He doesn't, but he does bite one of her nipples before he starts sucking just to wake her up more. He would like for her to come, preferably on his cock. That's not going to happen if she's only half interested.

She squeaks and giggles at his little assault, fingers wrapped tightly around his hair but she isn't tugging, yet.

When he moves to the other one, Zayn reaches for his cock between them. Impatient little thing. She lines them up, moving her hips and everything but Niall doesn't help her out, doesn't move yet despite how bad he wants to. He can feel how wet she is already...

"Baby," she tries to complain. It comes out more of a whimper. "Zai wakes up in like thirty minutes,"

Oh shit, she's right. He lets go of her nipple, sucking a quick bruise between her breasts before he lines them up properly, groaning as he bottoms out. She's tight and wet, always so tight and wet.

Now Zayn's pulling on his hair. When he pulls back to thrust again she locks her thighs around his waist, trapping him in. He doesn't go fast, just hard.

  
"Oh my god," she whines, eyes fluttering. She fights to keep them open, knowing Niall gets upset when she closes them. "Big,"

"Yeah?" Niall goes a little faster now, always gets a little too worked up when Zayn starts talking while she's getting fucked. "You like it?"

"Mhm." She nods immediately, hands rubbing over Niall's arms and shoulders.

She's not even awake enough yet for her to come any time soon, yet she still let's Niall fuck her. Such a whore.

Niall promises himself to give it to her good later, make her come until she's passes out later because he can't hold back any longer. His groans are loud, entire body shaking when his orgasm hits. Zayn clenches and strokes his hair through it.

***

Zaidan loves attention, especially from his family, but today at his papa's house, there are /so/ many people that he's feeling a little nervous. Shyly, he clings to his daddy and hides his face when another unrecognized face starts talking.

Niall rubs his back and tries to tickle him, but unfortunately that only makes the boy squeeze tighter.

"You're alright, buddie. This is your mommy's sister, she's your aunt and her names Safaa. Can you say hi to Auntie Safaa?"

"Hi." Zaidan squeaks into Niall's skin.

"Ah, sorry Saf." Niall shrugs, apologising to Zayn's youngest sister. "He's usually more social, he must be tired."

Truthfully, Niall knows Zaidan only really likes being around guys. Can't exactly blame the little slugger either. All women want to do is talk to him and pinch his face.

"It's okay." Safaa smiles. "I'm going to have a niece soon anyways. I like girls better."

If he weren't married to her sister... (and secretly employed by her father)... Niall would probably give her the bird and be on his way. He can't do that though, so he laughs and pretends she's cute.

Eventually Safaa fucks off Niall's left to conversate with one of their cousins for a few minutes before Zayn finds him. By then Zaidan has poked his head away from the safety of his father's neck and is curiously watching everybody. In fact, the only reason Niall knew Zayn was coming is because Zaidan kept pointing and grunting. (He doesn't use words when he's feeling shy.)

"Hi baby," Zayn kisses Niall's cheek. "Little baby." Then Zaidan's.

Zaidan grins, all of his teeth showing. He loves mommy.

"Hey beautiful. We're just talking about my new putters and why didn't you tell me your cousin owns a course?" Niall loves a good golf day here and there, especially if there's a family discount on drinks.

"Mhm." Zayn nods, not at all thrilled about golf talk.

His wife on the other hand hates a good golf day. Probably because she's never invited because she sucks and no girls allowed.

"Dinners done." Zayn informs her husband and son, changing the subject. For now, at least. "Do you want to sit at the little table with Auntie Sash or with Mommy?"

Zaidan looks at his dad with pouted lips and furrowed brows, not liking these options here.

"You can sit with me, bud. We'll sit with Mom, okay?"

Zaidan likes that much better.

*

Zaidan sits on Niall's lap throughout dinner, both of them sharing a plate just like when Zaidan was a little smaller. Niall misses him being so small...

"Just a couple more weeks D." A lady, Niall assumes one of Zayn's cousins, smiles at her sister Doniya.

Doniya smiles at her husband next to her, he kisses her cheek and everybody coos.

This is most of Zayn's family, and Niall only remembers a handful of these people at their wedding. Strange, because Niall remembers names to faces easily, even if he doesn't want to. That only means these people weren't at his wedding.

"Your first grandchild." Doniya smiles widely at her mother.

Trish shakes her head but remains silent.

"Uh?" Zayn laughs. "First granddaughter, maybe."

Niall sees what's going on here. He's noticed people blatantly ignore Zayn, noticed the way they look at him and quickly look away. He knows what's going on, but Zayn doesn't.

"Well. First /real/ grandchild." Doniya says to her plate. Her husband rubs her leg under the table, everybody else's eyes are down as they eat.

"Is that supposed to be a joke, like I'm adopted or something?" Zayn genuinely doesn't get it.

"Babe," Niall whispers, shaking his head in a way he hopes translates for her to let it go.

"Not technically," Doniya remains vague.

Trisha sighs. "Girls, it's your father's birthday."

Yaser himself, who's sat at the head of the table is watching his daughters bicker as he chews the delicious birthday dinner his wife prepared.

"No, mom. What's she saying?" Zayn looks around, confused. "What are you trying to say, D? My son doesn't count?"

Shit. "Babe." Niall warns again. Zaidan copies him between bites.

"You said it, not me." Zayn's sister shrugs.

A few people at the table excuse themselves, a few fatties even take their plates with them. The remaining lurkers watch their relatives like a reality television show.

"Are you-" Zayn blinks rapidly, the way she always does when she's angry. Fighting angry, that is. Frustrated angry runs and hides, fighting angry, well. Fighting angry fights. "Why the hell doesn't my son count then, D?"

"Well." Doniya licks her bottom lip and sets down her fork, folding her hands on the table in front of her plate. "For starters, you weren't married when you had him."

Oh god, with the religious bull shit. Niall can't deal.

"I am now though." Zayn reminds everybody. She even raises her left hand and waves around her rings. Good. They're big and expensive as fuck.

"You didn't plan him," Doniya continues as if Zayn never said a word.

"Niall planned him," Niall's wife shrugs.

Niall kisses Zaidan's head. He'd be pissed if his son were paying attention while they said all of this in front of him. Luckily for everybody in this house he isn't. He's humming and singing to himself as he eats.

"Doniya, enough." Trisha tries again.

"And he's white." Doniya raises one eyebrow. Everybody else around the table gasps and goes completely silent. "Allah won't except that baby Zayn, and you know it."

Yeah, Niall saw that coming. Had a feeling in his gut that's what the looks were about.

"You didn't even finish school before you had him. You were literally a single teenage drop out knocked up by a white boy." Doniya laughs, shaking her head as if something she said is actually funny.

"She was almost twenty one and she's actually back in school, but thanks for your concern." Niall rolls his eyes. He's treading lightly, doesn't want to disrespect the bosses kid right in front of him but he's gotta defend his wife.

That's actually probably why Yaser hasn't said anything. To see how Niall handles this. He's ridiculous, with all of his secret tests.

"That white boy takes care of me, just like daddy takes care of mommy."

Niall completely misread his wife's sighs. She's sad angry, probably fight angry too but there's tears in her eyes.

"Because daddy helps him!" Doniya yells. "He's only a mail boy Zayn, do you really think he bought that house on his own? Daddy helps him take care of you."

While that's technically true, it's also a bit wrong. Yaser doesn't help Niall, he works him pretty hard actually. Yaser only gives him what he earns. Of course, Zayn knows nothing about that. Nobody here does except Niall and Yaser themselves.

"No Daddy doesn't, Doniya! Anything he's helped me with while I was pregnant I tried to pay back to him, he wouldn't take it. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Girls!" Trisha yells, slamming her fist on the table.

"Yes I do." Her pregnant daughter ignores her. "But that's up to Daddy and your "husband" to tell you."

Oh shit. Niall stares at Zayn's sister, wondering what exactly she knows. He plays it cool though, like he's got no idea what she's talking about.

"Why are you quoting the word husband?" Luckily Zayn doesn't catch onto that. "He's my actual husband. You were at my wedding."

Not the reception though. Niall remembers.

"So was your kid. You probably only got married because you had a kid." Doniya shakes her head.

Niall's had enough. He stands, shifting Zaidan to his waist and grabs Zayn's hand.

"Let's go." It's not a question. They're leaving. "Happy birthday, /Dad/. Good was delicious as always, /Mom/."

Zayn's stands, Niall's hand in her and glares at her sister. "My kid may be half white, but yours is going to come out looking like that." She points to Doniya's husband.

Niall didn't want to be the one to say it, but. He's old as shit. When they walk away, Niall hears someone choke on their food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my friends having a baby and i suggested the name zaidan and she actually really likes it so i fucked up kind of because ://// that's zialls babys name


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY BIRTHDAY IS SUNDAY IM SO EXCITED 
> 
> ps I'm back on kik if you wanna talk :) autumnsmith918 
> 
> Have a good weekend xoxoxo

"Mommy loves you. A lot. Okay baby girl? Mommy will see you in the morning." Louis gently tries to put her baby at ease over the phone. 

"Okay mommy love you." Serenity rushes. "Can I go now?" 

Truthfully, the girls are fine. They're at their grandma's (Johannah's) eating snacks and watching movies. Aubree was having so much fun that when Louis called all she did was yell into the phone while Johannah held it. Serenity originally tried to act like she was sleeping when she answered. 

"Go ahead baby. Try to get some sleep. Mommy will be there by breakfast time." She assures her baby girl. 

"She ran off again Lou," Johannah giggles at her kids and grandkids. "That's not necessary, by the way. We're all going out to breakfast in the morning. You're welcome to join us if you'd like, you and Harry." 

Louis takes another large gulp of her wine and nods. "Kay mom thanks. Love you." She hangs up before she says anything else. 

That's all she's really been doing since the girls left three hours ago, drinking wine. She was so looking forward to alone time until the alone part hit her. She's got no idea where Harry is either. Zayn's busy being fucking annoying with her husband, otherwise Louis would have called her over here. 

Instead, she's sitting on the sofa doing exactly what she hates Harry for doing and wondering when exactly her life got this way. Drinking wine, half failed marriage. Hell, she still doesn't believe she has a child in first grade. It's nuts. 

An hour or so later, Harry finds her scrubbing the tub with Mariah Carey on blast, sobbing as she cleans and songs along. He startles her when he shuts off the radio. 

"Oh, it's you." She sniffles, rescrubbing the same spot she's been working on for twenty minutes. 

"Uh, yeah. Are you alright Lou?" Oh, now he cares? Huh. 

She nods. "Where have you been?" She asks, casual as fuck. 

She knows where the fuck he's been. 

"Nick's been working late and Gem doesn't like to be home alone, so I've been hanging with Gem for a bit. We had dinner." He shrugs. "Sorry I'm... late." 

With Gemma. That's his grand excuse. That he's hanging out with his bitchy sister. When in reality, he's been fucking babies into /her/ little sister. 

"Were you sorry when she was late?" Louis mutters. Fuck this, she decides and throws down the cleaning brush along with her rubber gloves. 

"Pardon?" The hipster little cheater cheater sister fucker raises a confused eyebrow. 

She pushes past him back to the living room where she collapses back onto the sofa. Her back is killing her but on the bright side her entire house is now bleached and sparkling clean. 

Harry waltzes in and squats in front of her. Before she can kick him away or something, he puts his big, stupid gigantic hand on her thigh and squeezes. 

"Hey." He looks sad. 

Louis is angry, is the thing. She's angry because she dropped off her babies to her mother and said it was so she could have some alone time, but really it was so she could have alone time with Harry. Except, Harry wasn't here. And he didn't call, not that he ever does anymore. Realizing this made her sad. Louis hates being sad, so now Louis is angry. 

"Hey." She's also kind of horny. 

She's only human, okay. It's been /months/ since she's been touched or kissed properly. She wants a good fuck and the only place she's going to get it is her husband, unfortunately. 

"I'm sorry for whatever it is that made you upset." 

He smells so good. Like /him/ and not like alcohol. 

"Gem sent home eggplant parm," maybe that's meant to cheer her up. It does, she has to laugh because that's such a Harry thing to eat. 

"Are the girls in bed?" He squeezes her leg a little tighter, like he doesn't want to let go. She doesn't want him to let go. 

Louis shakes her head, mesmerized by those stupid green eyes and pink lips. "They're at my mom's." 

Green eyes widen, he sucks in a dramatic breathe. "You've been here by yourself? I'm so sorry Lou, why didn't you call? I'd've came right away if I knew-" 

"You always call." She shrugs. "You didn't call. You always used to call," 

Harry would call for everything. Stuck at a train? He'd call her. Stopping at a store? He'd call. He's got two solid minutes of free time while he uses the restroom, he'd fucking calls. Now how many calls a day does she get from Harry? Zero. 

"I'm sorry." He says immediately, nodding with wild eyes. "You stopped answering, but- I'll call. You want me to call, I'll call." 

"I want you to call." She pouts. 

Louis has had play by plays if Harry's every move since he was sixteen. These last few months, who the fuck knows what he's been doing. Out here potentially knocking up sisters and shit. 

"I will. I promise." 

When she puts her hand over his on her thigh, it feels like a big step. It's such a small thing, why does it feel so big?

"Are you okay, Lou?" 

No, nothing is okay. She feels like she's choosing him over kids and god damn it why is ahead that he keeps calling her "Lou" instead of "baby"? 

"Are we okay?" She asks instead. She knows the answer. She stopped trying, and then he really stopped trying. This isn't them. 

Harry looks away, blinking all confused like he didn't expect her to say that. 

What did he expect then? Their marriage is crashing and burning. It's a big failure like his more said it would be. 

"We can have a baby." Louis offers miserably. If he doesn't acknowledge he's the dad to Lottie's baby it can work. The little bitch already planned on raising it alone. "If that's what you still want." 

"Louis." Harry moves to sit by her instead of in front of her. "I wanted you to want a baby too. A baby isn't going to change anything, it's not going to fix that you don't know when you want me around or- it's not going to change anything." 

She always wants him around. The him before everything went to shit. 

"I thought we were in a good place to have a baby, that's why I wanted one." 

She doesn't look at him, she can't. 

"You were drinking then too, when you brought it up." Though Louis will admit it was worse when they were fighting. 

Harry shrugs, defeated. He knows by now that he's not going to win any arguments with Louis. Why bother trying now. "I didn't see it as a problem then, but you're right. I was drinking and that caused problems between us." 

And between him and the kids, mainly Serenity. Aubree will snap on him when she deems necessary but it's Serenity who gets upset. At the same time though, Aubree always forgives and forgets. Serenity remembers and keeps her distance. 

"It did." Louis agrees. "I just- Harry can you please, /please/ be honest with me." She begs. 

"Of course." Harry nods, serious. 

She takes a deep breath before asking, for the second time; "Did you cheat on me?" 

Surprisingly, Harry sighs and rolls his eyes, looking away from her. "Why do you keep asking me that? No Louis. I didn't. Did you cheat on me? Is that why you wanna-" 

"When do I have time to cheat?" She retorts, outraged. "I'm not the one with a suspicious agenda." 

She can't take it anymore. Maybe they need this, to yell and fight it out but she can't fight anymore. This is too exhausting. As is, in her torn sweats and stained white shirt she grabs her purse and keys. 

"Suspicious agenda?" He follows her out the door. "Are you really leaving right now Louis?" 

"You leave all the time, fuck off." Louis gets in her car and starts it. 

Who knows what Harry's plan was when he slams his hands on the front of her car like he's trying to hold it in place as she backs out. He barely even has muscles. 

***

Louis lets herself in with the key she was given for emergency uses only. She's kind of glad she did and didn't knock because she walks into the living room to find Zayn in some sort of lingerie, massaging Niall with candles all around them. Aw. 

"How are you guys still in a honeymoon phase? Honestly," 

Zayn squeaks and scrambles to the couch for a blanket to cover herself. Why? She looks nice. Fucking whore, reminding Louis that she's a beached whale. 

Oh god. Louis is the Duff. 

"Is that Louis?" Niall spits, all angry because his sexy massage is ruined. 

"Yes!" Zayn yells, eyes wide as she stares at her best friend. "What are you doing?!" 

"Hi." Louis waves pathetically. "I brought wine. And ice cream," her bottom lip wobbles. 

Zayn coos, pity written all over her horny little face.   
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill him." Niall mutters, pushing himself up. Along the way, when he's kind of half bent a little, Louis can see his boner through his shorts. Maybe it's just the lighting, but whoa. That was definitely unexpected. 

Twenty or so minutes later, Louis ends up sandwiched between the couple. Her and Zayn are eating the ice cream, Niall's drinking the wine straight from the bottle. That's okay, it's just Niall. And he does offer Louis sips (not like it's her own drink or anything). 

"I need to ask you guys something really serious." Louis is crying, full on crying. Her voice is squeaky and disgusting and snot is leaking just as fast as her tears. 

"Of course, honey. Anything." Zayn wipes Louis' nose for her. She's a good friend. The best friend a girl like could could ever ask for. 

"If we get a divorce, will you guys help me? I can't-" Louis has to pause for a second to get herself together. She's crying so hard that most of her words are incoherent. "I can't afford to live by myself, he pays the bills and I just buy food I can't do it by myse-" 

Niall puts his arm around Louis' shoulder and pulls her in for a cuddle. She may have cock blocked him but at the end of the day she is still his sister. Niall has an unconditional love for Louis that he never thought he could have for a person outside of his bloodline, especially since they aren't like, romantically involved or anything. 

They've kind of always been protective of each other, Louis and Niall. 

"Louis. You're my family, you hear me?" 

Louis sniffles, wiping her face with Zayn's blanket. She doesn't even care if there's jizz on it. 

"You, or my nieces will never not be taken care of." 

Does Niall believe they're actually going to divorce? No, hell no. But say, in some kind of fucked up dream they actually do split up, Niall will not hesitate to write Louis a check every week. Hell, he'll give her his bank card if she needs it. 

Niall will also be there to kick Harry's ass for not being able to help Louis himself.

"Thank you Niall. I'm so scared," Louis appreciates Niall so much, but she prefers to cry on Zayn. So she leans to the other side and does just that, focusing on her breathing as Zayn strokes her hair.   
It's even nicer on Zayn because Zayn is still in lingerie, she just has a robe on but her tit is popped out and yeah. Louis isn't gay but she also isn't blind. Laying on Zayn's sexy breast is almost as comforting as one of her mom's hugs. 

"Don't be scared, babe." Zayn soothes, petting her hair. 

"I never thought Harry would cheat on me." Louis clutches the blanket harder to her own chest. She's so lost, hurts so bad and doesn't know how to fix it. "With my own sister, Zayn! It hurts so bad." 

Zayn lets her cry, rocking her back and forth. There's nothing Zayn can say that will help her right now. All she can do is listen. 

Niall, however, is suddenly outraged. 

"What?" His tone angry. Louis can feel him move, like he's on the edge of the sofa. 

"Niall," Zayn shakes her head. He won't stay out of this, she knows, but all this noise is going to wake Zaidan up. 

"He did what? What did she just say?" 

Louis lifts her head, arm still between Zayn and the couch. She didn't notice she was drooling... She wipes her mouth with her other hand. "Him and Lottie, he got her pregnant I know he did." 

Zayn and Niall lock eyes for a long moment. This is honestly the first Niall is hearing about this suspicion, and there's a reason for that. Before Zayn can say anything, Niall's up and racing towards the stairs. 

Shit. 

"I'll be right back, okay Lou?" Zayn tries to gently push Louis off of her. "Eat the ice cream, I'll be right back." 

Zayn runs after her husband, who's already in their room pulling a hoodie over his head. 

"What are you doing, Niall? You can't go beat him up-" 

"He's my best friend Zayn." Niall's eyes are cold, icy the way they always are when he's mad. "I can't just sit back while he fucks his life up." 

Zayn sighs, folding her arms across her chest. "What would your reaction be if it was her? What if she cheated?" 

Niall scrunches his nose. "The exact same." He decides. 

That must be the right answer, because his wife nods and pads over to kiss his cheek. "Okay. Don't get arrested. I love you." Is all she says before she goes back to comfort Louis. 

"Good God, I love you." Niall mutters mostly to himself, shaking his head. 

***

"I guess," Louis has significantly calmed down, but her throat is all scratchy from sobbing. "What really got to me tonight, was that I actually wanted to have sex with him." 

Zayn looks at her, intrigued. Louis' been avoiding sex for a long time. It's not worth the pain afterwards, and it's not even fun when Harry's only mission is to put a baby in her instead of make her come. 

"That like, I guess it freaked me out." Louis shrugs. She wanted Harry, but it felt dirty to want him. She felt like she was betraying her kids, she felt nasty because he was with another woman. The worst part- that woman is her little baby sister. Fucking slut. 

"It's been so long since I had sex. Like, good sex." Louis sighs, sad. She wants sex so bad. Harry has literally ruined sex for her, with his stupid perfect cock. Why does he have to be so stupid. 

"Okay." Zayn pauses their movie. They aren't even paying attention to it though... "I know you offered me Harry a long time ago, but I'm not offering you Niall. I'm sorry Louis, I just. I can't do that,"

What the hell? "What the hell, Zayn? I don't want Niall! Ew! He's like my brother, ew!" 

"Oh, he's like a brother but I'm not like a sister?" Is Zayn actually offended by that? 

Louis and Niall lived together. When Louis looks at Niall she literally sees a younger boy version of herself. She's his protege, if you will.

"Of course you are! Why do you think I cared about your orgasms?" 

Louis knows what Zayn is thinking but is too nice to say. If Zayn's her sister, why can she fuck Harry but Lottie can't? It's different. Honestly Louis just wanted a three some with Zayn she just didn't want to say it. They're best friends, it could come off weird to Zayn if she knew how attractive Louis finds her. 

"I could have had some tonight. Probably right now, right where you're laying." Most likely, because she's laying in Niall's spot on their bed. 

"You still can." Louis shrugs. Zayn laughs, Louis doesn't.


	12. Chapter 12

Louis wakes up in Niall and Zayn's bed, alone as predicted. She stumbles out of their ridiculously comfortable bed (it's like a cloud, and there are so many blankets) and uses their bathroom, taking the opportunity to knick some of Zayn's fancy lotion. She finds some rather interesting sensual oils whilst snooping too, but knowing these lames it's probably just for baths. Whatever. 

On her way downstairs she glances in the other bathroom (they have two on the top floor for what reason exactly? Louis has two in her entire house.) to find Zaidan sitting on the toilet running a truck over his little thighs. 

"Good morning buggy." He's so beautiful with his messy bed head. Louis loves him so so so much, almost as much as she loves her own kids honestly. 

She's also aware she should probably give the kid some privacy, but hey. He's the one who left the door open. (Because he gets scared. He literally runs when the toilet flushes, but makes sure to wash his hands before he flushes.) 

"I'm going poop." He smiles. Louis nods. 

"Call for your mom when you're done, alright bug?" She'll help him when he stays at her house this is all Zayn. Louis is a guest here. 

Zaidan smiles his mischievous little smile. "I call for /you/ to wipe my butt." He giggles. Little shit. Literally. 

She finds Zayn in the kitchen, looking like a proper housewife in a silky robe with her hair up, doing something on her laptop. 

"Do you seriously wake up like that? Ass hole." Louis mutters, raiding the fridge for something to drink. 

Apparently nobody made coffee this morning. 

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Zayn greets, seemingly distracted with something on her laptop. "Ni's bringing back breakfast. Guess he stayed at yours last night." 

Oh god. Last night. Louis wants to like, not deal with reality right now. She wishes she could just stay here with her babies and pretend everything is fine. Adulting sucks. 

"I should go get the girls." She'll probably take them to see a movie and force them to grocery shop with her, which is admittedly only a nightmare for her but she'll manage. She has before, several times. 

"Bring them here." Zayn suggests. "We're gonna barbecue and play in the pool while it's still nice out." 

The girls do love to swim... 

"Mommmmmmy!" Zaidan calls for Zayn. 

Both mom's peek out to find him only in his shirt, standing by the stairs. As much as Zayn loveloveloves him, she still stands by her statement. Kids are so gross. 

***

Louis goes home for a while. The girls are out with her mom and she promised to drop them off later before she hung up on Louis. 

Her plan was to sneak in and shower then hide in her room from Harry, but Harry's already in their room. 

"Louis." 

She ignores him, searching through her drawers for something to wear after her shower. 

"Louis!" He yells. 

"What!" She whips around, matching his volume. 

"You think I slept with your sister?" He spits, sitting up quick and hostile. 

He looks aggressive. If Louis was anyone else she'd be scared. 

"Yeah, yeah Harry I do." He's a completely different person to her now. He disgusts her. 

"And I had to find this out through Niall?" 

Louis really, really wonders what happened when Niall came over here. Did they talk? Or did they fight? With words or fists? Louis hopes he beat Harry's ass. 

"At least somebody told you!" She counters. 

Harry squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head. "How do I go from a drunk to a cheater, Louis?" 

Louis laughs, because come on. "The same way you went from a drunk to an ass hole." Like uh when he called her six year old a bitch. "You're not you when you're drunk." Obviously. 

"That doesn't mean I fucked your sister!" Harry's more angry than he's got a right to be, in Louis' opinion. "I don't even hang around your sister! If I'm not with /my/ sister, I'm with Niall or I'm here." 

"It's a little late-" 

To be telling me where you've been now, she would say, if Harry didn't cut her off. 

"Let me guess, I fucked my sister too?" 

You know what. Louis has a mild hangover and she's not in the mood for his stupid, dumb fucking face right now. "Probably, because you're a fucking whore." 

Naturally, Louis has more to say but she wants to appear done with this conversation to seem like to bigger person. She expects Harry to follow her on her way to the bathroom though, which he does. 

"You know, you're probably feeling guilty for not having sex with me so you're twisting it around on me, and making me seem like the bad guy to-" 

Louis snaps. She turns around and pushes him so hard he tumbles back and falls into the wall. "Fuck you! I don't have sex with you because I don't enjoy it, you fucking idiot!" 

It hurts and all he wants is a baby from it. He doesn't care about anything else when they fuck. It's not romantic, there's no foreplay. It's plain and boring and painful in more ways than one. 

"Oh, bull shit Louis." He stands over her, glaring down at her. 

Honestly, under different circumstances this kind of argument would have lead to really good, really hard makeup sex. Not today. 

"Sex between us has always been mind blowing and you know it."

It was, he's not completely wrong. 

She makes a face like she's grossed out. "Not when I can't even get wet because all you talk about it putting a baby in me." 

"Which-" Harry takes another step forward, causing her to take one back. "I couldn't, because you hid your birth control from me! For five fucking years!" 

"Oh boohoo," Louis rolls her eyes. "Why don't you go knock up my sister about it- oh wait." She gasps. 

Louis turns around and tries to slam the bathroom door in his face, only for him to push it back mid swing. 

"What is making you think this Louis? What put this shit in your head," 

Louis doesn't really know where to go from here. She wanted him to follow her, yeah. But she also doesn't want him to see her naked. So, she feels a little stupid when she leans against the sink and folds her arms across her chest. 

"You and Charlotte won't even stay in the same room as each other anymore."

Not that Lottie is around much, but when she is she seems like she hides from Harry. 

"Oh, well when you put it like that." Harry nods. "Makes perfect sense. I can totally see why you think I fucked her." 

Louis rolls her eyes. He's so annoying. 

"She told me the dad is married and older, but she can't tell me who he is." She raises her eyebrows, waiting on his next excuse. It's obviously fucking him because who else would it be? Dan? As if. 

Harry stares at her for what feels like forever. "Your first thought was that it was me." He realizes. It's not a question, it's a statement. "That shows a lot about our relationship." 

What relationship, Louis thinks. They barely see each other, hardly talk. They're practically strangers now. And she's hurting, of course she is. She lost her best friend. 

"You know, you're probably feeling guilty for cheating on me." She mimics, face void of emotion. "So you're twisting it around on me and making me seem like the bad guy." 

"I've never! Ever!" Harry exclaims each word with dramatic hand movements, green eyes so wild Louis looks away from them. "Even thought about cheating on you, ever!" 

Maybe she's a weak bitch, because part of her believes him and the other part really wants to. Louis just has a lot on her mind right now. She's hurt and torn and doesn't know what to believe and what not to believe. 

"Can you just-" Louis rubs her eyes before squeezing them shut and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Can you get out. Please." 

She doesn't need to open her eyes to see the defeated, almost hopeless look on her husband's face. "Baby-" 

"Please, Harry." She can't. "Just go. I already pushed you," which, she is disappointed in herself for. "Please just go." 

"Louis please. You have to believe me. I would never do that to you, Louis never." He doesn't fucking listen. 

"I need to shower so that I can leave, Harry." 

And he's not going with her, even if they are going to his best friends house. Nobody invited him and if they did Louis will make Niall uninvite him. (He won't but at least her and Zayn can give their men dirty looks.) 

"Leave? No, no!" He shakes head. He looks like Serenity when she throws a tantrum. 

"Harry," Louis sighs. 

"No Louis!" There are actual tears in his eyes. Louis can't do this. "Leave where? Please don't leave Louis, I didn't cheat on you I swear I didn't!"

Oh, he thinks she's leaving him. As much as she shouldn't care, she kind of hates when Harry cries. 

"Me and the girls are going to Zayn and Niall's for dinner, dude. Chill out." 

Whenever the girls get back to her mom's she's going to go pick them up. She called when she was on her way home and they were at some petting zoo. Aubree was again too excited to talk, only screaming about a llama licking her hand. She could hear Serenity giggling when her mom said she'd call when they got home. 

"Well," he scratches the back of his neck. 

If he asks to go with them she's telling him no. He can feed himself or go to his "sisters" house again. 

"Can we talk when you get back?"

No, probably not. "I guess." Louis rolls her eyes, only so he'll leave her alone. 

***

Johannah brings the girls to Zayn's so Louis doesn't have to drive. Louis perks up immediately when her mom comes walking around the side of their house holding Aubree's hand. 

"Where's Serenity? Hi baby!" Louis squats down, ready to hug her sweet little blonde babe. A whole night away from her... Aubree had fun but Louis. Not so much. 

"She's out front with Uncle Niall. They wanted to peek at Ernie and Doris." Her mom has kids younger than her grandkids... gross. But Louis loves them. 

"Where's my dad?" Aubree chirps, squeezing her mom tighter. 

"Did you have so much fun with Nanny?" She attempts to distract her baby. 

It works in the meantime. Aubree always has been a chatter box. "Yup! I had sixteen waffles with the white cream and we bought Monster High dolls but Renity didn't want one so I got one and she got Optimus Prime and then we fed goats and lavas and they licked my hand it was so gross and-" finally, the little girl takes a long inhale before she continues.

"The mom goat was just watching but the baby goat was licking Ernest's face and he cried because he's such a baby- seriously mom. He's a baby. And then Nanny said if we're bery good she'll buy us ice cream and guess what! I had two scoops. It was pink." She smiles. 

Louis just blinks at her precious little angel. When the girls started school, Louis told them to remember everything so that they can tell her. "No secrets," she had whispered to them. This one has clearly taken that promise very serious. 

"Whoa." Louis makes bug eyes. 

"I know." Aubree nods, agreeing. Her breath smells like bubblegum ice cream. "Now where's my dad?" 

"Where's your Monster High doll?" It's probably a duplicate of one she already had then lost. 

"In my bag that Nanny's carrying. Where's my dad?" 

Well. She's clearly not letting this go. 

"He's at home." Louis smiles, hoping that's enough for her. 

It's not, because she frowns and her cheeks are so so so chubby that Louis wishes she killed Harry before he ever got the chance to make his mark on either of her children. 

"What?" She whines, close to crying. "Oh, I'm so sick of this!" Aubree throws her head back. Her entire body would have went back if Louis weren't holding her hands. 

"Sick of what, Aubs? What's the matter babe?" 

Louis can see the worried look on her mom's face. She hasn't told her mom anything, literally anything that's been going on between her and Harry which is another reason why she's so fucked up about it. Her mom gives excellent, very reassuring advice. 

"I never see him!" Aubree is officially crying now. Tears stream down her sad little face. "I just can never tell him stuff cause he's always just home when it's my bed time!" 

How does she know Harry comes home at bed time? He must sneak in there to give them goodnight kisses. 

"I'm gonna call him, okay?" Louis feels so bad. Harry has always been Aubree's favorite parent and they haven't spent much time together because Louis tried to avoid him. 

"No, he doesn't gonna answer!" 

Over in the shallow end of the pool, Zaidan and his Momma make sad faces at the Styles' family. Zayn herself is close to tears at Aubree's break down and Zaidan, well. He cries when anybody else cries, especially Momma. 

"Do you want him to come here? I'll call him and tell him to come here, okay? He's gonna come see you and Serenity so he can go swimming with you guys. Do you wanna go swimming?" 

Aubree sniffles and nods, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. 

"I don't need a floatie." She shakes her head, trying to get away with more while she's got her mom feeling bad. 

She absolutely does need a floatie. Even if Louis said she didn't, uncle Niall will not let babies in that pool without one. No exceptions. 

*

Since the dad's are there, the mom's take advantage and sneak off to the other side of pool to talk shit in somewhat privacy. 

"Look at him, fucking ass hole." Louis takes another large gulp of her sangria as she glares at her husband from behind her sunglasses. 

He's not doing anything, not really at least. He's actually being cute, letting all three of the kids tackle him before he catches one and punishes them with tickles. 

"Like, he acts like he's such a good guy but he isn't." 

"At least he's sober." Zayn looks at the bright side while she sunbathes. 

Niall hasn't said anything about her bikini today, so he must like it or not care if Louis gawks at her in it. Louis herself actually has a bikini on today too, but most of it is covered by her jacket. She feels fat, which she isn't. Zayn thinks her body is great. 

"Yeah, for now. He'll start drinking as soon as he sees me stop because he knows I'll sober up so I can drive with the kids and he can go back to fucking around. Fucking prick."

Zayn is only half listening, more distracted by her husband cooking. He's a site, that's for sure. He always looks so good...

"Like, sorry," Louis rolls her eyes. "My body isn't tight and little and eighteen anymore, /Harry/." 

Zayn obviously won't say this out loud, but Louis hasn't exactly been small since she had Serenity. She used to be really skinny but after she had kids she got thick and stayed that way. Obviously Harry likes her that way, he was obsessed with her. But Louis is ranting, so Zayn lets her. 

"I gave him everything Zayn." She mentions, hella bitter. "My mouth was half a virgin when I met him." 

Zayn snaps her head to look at Louis. "What?" She laughs. No it definitely wasn't... 

Even Louis laughs a little. "Stan hardly counts." She holds up her pinky, indicating that's how endowed he was. 

"We did anal like, twice a month." Louis knows her best friend doesn't want to hear this, but Louis has nobody else to tell it to. She wants to know where she as a wife went wrong. 

"Really?" To Louis' surprise, Zayn actually seems intrigued by this information. 

The brunette nods. "We had a really good sex life." 

Zayn thinks hers is good too, but part of her wonders if Niall gets bored ever. He's never been with just one woman for this long. Zayn's got think of something so they don't end up like Louis and Harry, she thinks sadly. 

"Really good." Louis adds as an afterthought. She misses sex.


	13. Chapter 13

The kids get to have a sleepover, which surprisingly they are thrilled about. Everybody knew Zaidan would be happy to have a slumber party with his cousins, but the girls were a shock. 

"Are you and daddy staying too?" Serenity asks, a little worried about being left here alone. She wants to stay, but she also wants her mom. 

Currently, all three kiddies are tucked in in the guest room next to Niall and Zayn's room watching a movie and eating a ton of snacks. Zaidan is cheesing so hard and he keeps looking at his cousins to make sure they're watching the movie too. Cuties. 

"Yeah babe. It's grown up time now though," Louis is a but tipsy and like the responsible adult she is she's just going to stay here for the night. Again. 

"But mommy missed you girls so much that I'm not even letting you go to school tomorrow!" 

Aubree cheers and Zaidan giggles. He's having so much fun! 

Serenity however, sighs and curls her finger for her mom to come closer so she can tell her a secret. "I won't tell Bree it's Saturday." 

Of course she'd catch on. She's the smartest little girl in the whole fucking world. 

"Okay." Louis smiles, kissing her babies cheeks all over until she giggles. "Mommy missed you guys though, so I think I won't let you go Monday either, okay?" 

As if. Louis is responsible as fuck. Monday is a holiday and she already took it off so she wouldn't have to find someone to watch the girls because there's no school. Boom. 

"Okay Mom," Serenity smiles. She's so cute Louis has to kiss her three more times before she kisses the other two and leaves them be for the night. 

"Kiddies are good." Louis announces, closing the sliding door to the balcony. 

Niall and Zayn's backyard is more adulty than Louis and Harry's. The main light is coming from the pool... if they had a backyard like this available to them in high school, well. Louis wouldn't have been the only one pregnant at graduation. 

"I told you they would be." Zayn smiles, wrapped around her man. "Give them snacks and a long movie," she makes the okay sign with her thumb and pointer finger. 

Josh and Andy make a rather noisy entrance that the neighbors will surely bitch about to Niall tomorrow. (Only because they know Zayn doesn't care. Niall at least pretends to be sorry.) 

Niall is passed being annoyed that Josh always hugs Zayn first when he comes over. It's actually nice in a way that even he can admit that his best friend and wife are good friends. 

Regardless, Niall wraps his hand around Zayn's hip and pulls her into him, whispering in her ear. "Kinda chilly out. Why don't you go put something on," 

It's not a question, but she nods anyway and goes. 

"Liam's on his way," Andy lets everybody know as he fixes himself food that nobody offered him. 

Not that Niall cares. He'd rather these losers eat before they get all shit faced and try to sleep at his house. 

"Is he finally bringing Danielle?" Harry asks. Only then, when his voice is so close does Louis realise how close he's migrated towards her. 

"God I fucking hope not." Josh says, loud and plain with his eyes wide. 

Huh. So he's met her. Nobody here except Josh and Andy have... 

"She's sweet." Andy defends his very best friends fiance. 

"Did Zayn go to get smoke? Because I text her earlier that I got it this time," Josh asks his own very best friend. 

Before they got married, that entire sentence would have bothered Niall. Truthfully, it still does. It shouldn't. 

"Whoever's got it, I want in." Louis feels like she deserves a night of fun for once. Why not? She doesn't have work tomorrow and she knows her kids are fine. All of her friends are here... Harry has fun all the time. Now it's her turn. 

"I'll pay for it, I don't care." She offers, only because nobody here will actually let her pay to smoke with them. 

Especially Niall, if the way he scoffs and gives her a dirty look says anything about it. That's her brother, man. 

"Since when do you smoke?" Harry mumbles in her ear. She ignores him. She occasionally smokes and he knows that, he's just baiting her to talk to him. 

"Liam just pulled up," Zayn says when she comes out. All she has on is a see through cover up... what was the point? Niall rolls his eyes. 

He comes through the house instead of around, and he's alone. 

"No misses?" Niall furrows a brow. He can't go hardly anywhere without Zayn wanting to tag along. 

"Nah." Liam shakes his head, hugging Louis back with one arm. 

Louis hasn't seen Liam in forever. Have his muscles always been that big? Shit. Harry just watches, silently nursing his bottled water. 

"You guys need girlfriends!" Zayn mock scolds Josh and Andy. "Liam's never comes around and we're tired of hanging out with boys all the time." 

"Heyyyyy!" Niall pouts. Zayn kisses his lips and winks. 

"Liam doesn't have a girlfriend." Harry corrects, staring at his wife who has yet to let go of Liam. "He has a fiance." 

"I have a friend girl sort of thing," Andy shrugs. "It feels weird to bring new people around." 

"Yeah!" Josh quickly agrees. 

What the fuck? "What? Why? We're nice people." Louis says from where she has cocooned herself under Liam's arm. 

"You're all fucking nuts." Niall accuses, as if he himself isn't a macadamia. 

"You have the biggest muscles," Louis giggles, squeezing Liam's arm as Harry glares. 

"I like friends. Your son like friends. Me and your son need friends!" Zayn persuades her husband. 

"Babe." Niall gives his woman a weird look, glancing at Andy and Josh. "I have no control over these losers getting girlfriends or having kids..." 

"Losers?" Andy scoffs. 

Meanwhile, Harry cracks his knuckles and loosens his muscles, hopping up and down while he does so. He looks ridiculous. 

"Hey Liam." Harry rolls his neck. "Let's fight." Harry will so kick his ass! Then Louis will drool and giggle about his muscles. 

"Harry," Liam makes a confused face, patting his pockets. "You got your phone on you?" 

Harry quirks an eyebrow but checks his pockets anyway. "Uh, no sorry bro-" 

"Good." Liam uses one hand to push Harry in the pool, Harry's girl still clinging to his other side. 

*

"Oh my god," Louis moans, fingers tugging at soft hair between them. 

"This is so bad." She doesn't really care though, now right now at least. She's been feeling Liam's muscles all night, flirting with him and smelling him and ugh! He's such a man. 

"Oh my god." She lets herself be kissed and felt up in Niall and Zayn's laundry room like she's in high school again. "Do you have a condom? I've been wanting this so bad." 

So, so bad. For a long time. 

"Mhm." He nods, biting and sucking a bruise on her neck. 

"I can't believe this is happening." She laughs to herself like a virgin instead of a very experienced, married mother of two. 

She discarded her jacket around the time Liam started lifting her up. 

("Psh, you weight hardly anything!" Liam argues, purely to boost Louis' dwindling confidence, surely. 

"I weigh more than you probably." Louis bats her eyelashes, coy and shit. 

Liam rolls his eyes and lifts her bridal styles, curling his arms lifting her up and down. "Is your ass hollow?" He laughs.)

Now she's shamelessly unknotting the strings of her bikini top and exposing her breasts to another person for the first time in too damn long. It's also the first time that she actually feels sexy in too damn long too. Go figure it took a gallon of sangria and Liam to do it for her. 

"You're so sexy." He purrs, eyes on her chest as his large hands grope her ass. 

"How sexy?" She baits, cupping his cock over his jeans, very pleased to find he is already hard. "Show me." 

"Gonna show you," he replies dumbly, taking off his belt. 

"Gonna fuck you." He mumbles, pants down around his knees. He roughly grabs her hips and turns her around, pushing her to bend over the washer machine before snatching her bottoms off. "Not gonna wear a condom either."   
She knows. He probably should, but she knew he wouldn't. Whatever. 

He's not gentle with her, not at all. His fingers bruise her hips and she swears she can feel his dick in her ribs when rams it in her. All she can do is gasp for air and whine. 

"You missed this dick, didn't you?" He gives her no time, pulling almost all of the way out only to slam back in again. 

Her eyes involuntarily roll to the back of her head as she nods against the cool metal of the Horan's washer. 

"I know you did." He keeps one hand on her hip, the other wraps around her hair, squeezing but not pulling. "How's it feel?" 

Oh god. She can't even answer. If she could, she'd tell him it's amazing. Perfect. Everything she never knew she needed and she can't believe she's gone so long without it... 

"Hmm?" He uses the hand on her hip to slap her ass. 

"Good, it's good- it's so good," she babbles, almost crying. She's been wet for literal hours. It took a lot of lip licking and "innocent" looks to end up down here without having to ask. 

His nails dig into the flesh of her ass one more time before he reaches in front of her to get her clit. He finds it immediately. Louis is so sensitive already and it all feels so good, too good. She's torn between running from it and pushing back on it. 

"Who's pussy is this?" He grunts behind her, fingers circling her clit at the same pace his hips slam into hers. 

Louis just moans and whimpers. She's drunk on good sangria and great dick and he's taking advantage of that. 

"Hmm?" He asks her again, determined for an answer. When he doesn't get one he pulls her hair, making her back arch in the most obscene fashion. 

She'll surely feel this tomorrow. Literally. Everything, everywhere. 

"Yours!" She's close, so close and desperate for it. She wants to come but doesn't want it to end. She wants to keep him in there all night...

"Say my fucking name." He demands, low but stern. 

"Harry, Harry, Harryharryharry-" Louis cries loud enough that they're probably mocking her outside and she can't even hear them. 

"Oh my god." Harry groans, feeling his wife's cunt clench and spasm around him. "I love you, I love you so fucking much Louis I-" 

Her body seizes, everything clenched tight when she comes. It's ridiculous and obscene and the hottest thing Harry has ever seen in his entire life. He can't really be blamed when he comes already. Hell. He's surprised he didn't come in his pants the second Louis grabbed his hand and lead him in the house... 

They're stuck like that for a few minutes. Bodies molded together, sticking and heavy and tired. Louis is the first to break the silence between them. To his surprise, she starts laughing. 

Harry stands up straight and pulls his flagging prick out, searching for a towel or something to wipe up with. "What's funny?" 

"My first reaction," her voice is all croaky. She's still hunched over the washer, face flat against it. "Was to give you a high five, say good game or something." 

Oh. That is sort of funny, Harry supposes. 

Louis stands, legs shaking. Good. He hopes she walks funny for a week. "Thanks." 

Harry nods, passing her the towel. "Suppose I should thank Liam." He shrugs, eyes on the floor. 

Louis hums, wiping herself. She feels a bit dirty, definitely needs a shower now. "Suppose so. See, isn't it interesting that someone else turned me on and off still didn't cheat on you?" Her voice super condescending. 

"I never cheated on you nor have I been turned on by someone else Louis. They thought my dick was broken when I went to the strip club because I-" 

"What the fuck were you doing at a strip club?" Louis truly has no idea where he's been these last few months. A strip club? Lottie's twat? Where else? 

"Niall's bachelor party years ago," and okay, like two months ago for a boys night with Josh and some of Josh's college friends. Harry was already wasted when he met up with Josh, he doubts the strip club was his idea. 

"Yeah. That's why I wanted you to wear a condom." Louis is somewhat sober and really fucking mad.

She's ready for bed. Shower and bed. She feels a bit silly putting her bathing suit back on so she searches through laundry baskets for a non lingerie nightgown. She doesn't know or care whether it's dirty or clean. 

"What?" Harry's voice squeaks. 

"If you cheated on me," Louis finds one. It's grey and has a cat on it... this is probably hers anyways. "We could work it out. Somehow, we could." 

"Louis-" 

"But if you gave me an std or any sort of infection, we're done. Do you hear me? Done. So you better hope I'm clean, if you even care." 

Through all of that, she's pathetically serious. She stands by what she said about him being a deadbeat to Lottie's baby too. If he doesn't acknowledge it's his they can work, somehow they can. 

"I thought it was because you didn't want to get pregnant," Harry follows her, almost bumping into her when she abruptly stops and turns around. 

"I'm on birth control, but thank you for thinking you were actually taking advantage of me." She's so annoyed with him. 

She honestly should let some stuff go. At least little stuff, or else they'll never get back to how they were when they were happy. But- she doesn't want to. Not until she knows who Lottie's baby daddy is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this getting boring to y'all? I'm trying to spice it up I'm sorry ): xoxox


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready

Waking up in Zayn's house is nice. It's always clean and smells good, the hot chick in the kitchen is an added bonus too. Niall should have bought this house for them to all live in instead. 

"You know D had her baby?" Louis informs Zayn. 

She found out whilst scrolling through Facebook this morning. Harry was sleeping on her and well. It was kind of nice to be held again. She let herself pretend everything was okay, until of course she seen Zayn's niece on her news feed. Then she has to push him off and run for Zayn. 

"Who?" Zayn makes a confused face, not looking up for pouring Niall's coffee. Niall breathes a little laugh type thing through his nose and shakes his head. 

"Where's the baby, mom?" Zaidan asks, chomping on a square of toast. 

"Your sister, Doniya." Louis deadpans. 

She would ask where her kids are, but she can hear them watching power puff girls in the living room. Serenity keeps telling Aubree she's Bubbles, and Aubree keeps telling Serenity she's Buttercup but Serenity insists she prefers to be Mojo Jojo. It's the same argument every time this show comes on. 

"I have no idea who you're talking about Louis." Zayn says, seriously. 

Louis blinks at her best friend. She loves her but she is quite stupid. "Your niece was born three hours ago. Did you already know about this? Why aren't you excited? Look," Louis taps her phone, searching Doniya's page again. 

"Why don't you go finish your toast in the living room, bud?" Niall nods for Zaidan to go in the other room. 

He doesn't need to be told twice. He loves when he's allowed to eat and watch tv at the same time, which is often. Surprising, considering he is the spawn of Zayn and Niall. Who knew they'd be great parents? (Niall. Niall knew.) 

"I have no relation to either of those people." Zayn informs once her sweet boy is out of earshot. 

Louis is lost. "What?" She takes a seat next to Niall. When he's not looking, she plans to "share" his coffee. 

"Doniya decided in front of my entire family, on my father's birthday, that my son doesn't count. I didn't want to talk to any of them after that, to be honest but Niall said that was stupid." Zayn rolls her eyes, standing next to Niall as she butters his toast for him. Such a housewife. 

Of course Niall couldn't just let Zayn cut her entire family off because of Doniya. Yaser would be furious. 

"Hold on," Louis sips from Niall's mug casually. "What? What do you mean he doesn't count?" 

"We weren't married when he was born." Niall shrugs, taking his mug away and setting it on the other side of the table. 

"And he's white." Zayn makes a face, the face she makes when she's mad but sees the humor to it. 

"Huh?" Louis laughs. "Since when do they care about that? Your dad bought my wedding dress because he said I was like a daughter to him," Louis is clearly white. So? 

"No, no. Not /them/." Zayn laughs. "Doniya. That was the reason my son doesn't count." 

"Count as what?" Louis has a hard time believing this. Doniya came to Louis' baby shower when she was pregnant with Serenity. (She didn't have one with Aubree). Sure she told Zayn on the way home that it was ghetto but she still went. 

"As a person, I guess. She said her baby would be the first grandchild to our parents." 

What a cunt. At least when Louis says Lottie's baby doesn't count it'll be for good reason. Except, truthfully she probably wouldn't say that. She's a push over when it comes to her family and she'll probably still help Lottie and her baby. 

"Well, fuck her." Louis shakes her head. "Zaidan's got me as an aunt. Those other bitches can't compete." 

Niall blindly raises his hand for a high five, Louis doesn't even look to return it. It connects perfectly. They're so awesome. 

"My kid is the cutest little bean I've ever seen." Zayn proves her MVP-ness by getting Louis her own cup for coffee. "I would rather have him than any of them." 

"Totally." Louis agrees, reaching for a piece of Niall's toast. That's apparently where he draws the line because he actually slaps her hand this time. "I'd choose my kids over anybody. Including you guys and especially Harry." 

Louis means it too. She doubts Zayn is the exact same though. Part of her feels Zayn would choose Niall over Zaidan if it came down to it. She could be wrong though. 

"I don't care." Zayn shrugs, finally taking a seat next to her husband. "My family is everybody who is in this house right now. My parents and Niall's family too, and Josh and Liam." 

Now that, Louis definitely agrees with. She loves her mom a lot, but her friends feel more like how good family is supposed to be. They fight and then act like it never happened two minutes later. She's pretty sure she has blood family that don't speak over an unpaid loan or some shit. 

"Except Greg." Niall groans. Nobody understands why he's so mean to Greg. 

"Greg is a good brother, stop it." Zayn gently scolds, tone similar to one she would use with Zaidan. 

"Right." Louis gives Niall a dirty look. "We have real problems with our sisters, Greg is your number one fan." 

"Number two." Zayn mumbles, jealous. 

"Number two fan? That's not a thing shut up." Louis is just hating because they're all cute and coupley and Harry is still asleep. And he's a little bitch. She misses Liam. 

Zayn ignores Louis and lays her head on Niall's shoulder, staring up at him all dreamy and gross. "I'm your number one fan." She sighs. 

"Back at you, kid." Niall ruffles Zayn's hair. That's not cute... but that's definitely something Louis would do. 

"Right. Well. My entire body hurts," Louis mentions casually. 

Her head, ribs, uterus, crotch area (? she's not a doctor) and lower back are all in pain. All she did was get a little drunk and have some sex. That's it. God having the body of an old person sucks.

"So I'm going to boil myself in one of your seventeen showers," she stands, wincing at the sharp pain from her groin to her ribs. "Then me and my clique will be out of here." 

Zayn's probably ready for her house back and some quality alone time with her boys, because she doesn't insist Louis stay longer. She just smiles and nods. 

***

"I invited Lottie over for dinner." 

Those are the first words Harry has said to Louis in actual hours. 

"Should I leave? The fancy candles are the hall closet." They're just glade scented candles, and she's not leaving. 

"No. We're going to clear this up so that you can move on from this, so that we can move on." 

Wow. Okay, yeah. Yeah... that's great. Louis expected to have to figure this out on her own, and honestly she was going to wait until it was born and compare their baby photos, maybe even do an at home paternity test without anybody knowing. So, Louis is surprised to say the least. 

That doesn't mean she'll believe them though. Of course they're going to lie if they slept together. 

"Okay." Louis nods, running her fingers through Serenity's hair. The girl is distracted by a show that girls have had to of seen a dozen times. "What are you making for dinner then?" She asks the more important questions here. 

Harry quirks an eyebrow. "I thought you were making dinner?" 

Oh hell no. Louis snorts. "I'm not making you and your girlfriend a roman-" shit. The kiddies are in the room, and they're always listening even when you think they aren't. Especially when you think they aren't. 

"I didn't invite her. I'm not cooking." And that's that. 

"Well." Harry looks around, stupid look on his dumb stupid face as he scratches the back of his neck. "I'll order something I guess."

Is he serious. She feels like this is a set up. Like Lottie's going to come over here and they're going to like, kiss or something in front of Louis and their kids and confess that they're in love. Louis feels sick. 

*

"I didn't want to come here." Lottie pout whispers to Louis. 

Harry is acting like a dad again and making the girls plates while they eagerly wait at the table. Pizza is for dinner. Of course they're eager. 

"Then why did you?" Louis doesn't give a shit about her pregnancy pains or hormones. That's what she gets fucking fucking people's husband's. 

"He told me I had to? I said no but he said it wasn't an option. Like, what's the deal? Why do I have to be here?" Louis' little sister questions, rubbing the side of her gigantic belly. 

Louis hates everything. "I don't know, Lot's." She lies. 

"It's not Lot's, it's Lottie." Aubree corrects. Little eavesdropper. "And her governor name Charlotte, did you know that mom? Charlotte doesn't like her governor name so that's why you gotta call her Lottie. Right Lottie?" 

"Good job Bree." Big sister smiles, praising little sister for remembering all that. 

"While they eat, Louis and I would like to talk to you in the living room." Harry says, obviously talking to Lottie even though he won't even look at her. 

Here it comes. Louis is going to puke... 

"Um." Lottie looks so weirded out. "If you guys are trying to take my baby, then no." 

"We don't like babies in this house. Right mom?" Serenity knows what's up. 

"I mean," Lottie continues. "Weekends maybe. And a few nights here and there. Like a week or two," 

Oh get real. Serenity was six months before Louis dared to even go out for a few hours without her.

"Sounds like a custody arrangement." Louis notes. 

Harry puts plates and juice boxes in front of the kids and quickly ushers the sisters into the other room. 

"Oh my god you guys are being so weird." Lottie complains. 

Louis is nervous. She's scared as fuck. Is there where Harry leaves her for her younger, hotter, fitter sister? Why would he do this to her? Oh god, she had sex with him last night. She was drunk but he wasn't... was it goodbye sex? Louis is going to throw up. 

"I'm not doing anything." She manages to defend, weakly. 

"We need to talk to you. Now." Harry says, stern. He's such a weirdo, because yeah obviously he wants to talk. He said it three times. 

"Are you guys dying?" Lottie tries to guess. "Oh god, is it mom? Is mom alright?" She starts tearing up. 

Louis is right there with her. 

"No, nobody is dying. Yet, at least." Harry shrugs. 

Louis moves over to the couch before she passes the fuck out. When did it get hot in here? Shit. 

"Wha-" 

"Louis thinks we slept together." Harry explains half of it. 

"What!" Lottie yells, hand on her belly as she looks back and forth between Louis and Harry. "What? Why would you think that? Ew!" 

You know what. Louis thinks Harry's "ew" all the time and she still slept with him. That "ew" means nothing to her. 

"You said the father of your child is married, and I know him." Louis mentions quietly. She can't look at either of them without picturing it. 

"We know a lot of married men, Louis!" Lottie's voice is squeaky, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Harry moves her, forcing her to sit down. Lottie is also close to her due date, but it's still a month or two away. Not that Louis cares. 

"If you could just tell her who so she believes it isn't me," Harry's so gentle with her and it's fucking gross. Louis doesn't want to see this. 

"I can't!" Lottie sobs. "I can't tell anybody! Especially you!" She's talking to Harry then. What the fuck...

Louis' mind is everywhere now. Is it Harry? It could be Niall, what if it's Dan? He's been like a dad to both of them, but he's not actually their dad. 

"Is it Niall?" Louis almost whispers.

Whoever the dad is, it's clear to her that it could ruin her life. It could be her husband's baby, or it could be her best friends husband's baby. She really hopes it isn't her mother's husband's baby. 

"What?!" Lottie is in hysterics. "He's like my big brother, so is Harry! Why are you saying this about me Louis?" 

That's when Louis breaks. She's been strong for so long, and it's all flooding out. She starts crying too. What if the dad is somebody else completely, like a neighbor or something and Louis is accusing Lottie of all of this? This is too much for her.

"Who is it Lottie? You need to tell me. Now." Louis hates the way her voice sounds when she's crying. She tries to keep it down so Serenity and Aubree don't get worried. 

Lottie throws her hands up, frustrated but her face devastated. "I can't!" 

"Why Lottie? I'm your fucking sister!" So much for quiet, Louis raises her voice. She's never been so hurt and angry at the same time, not even at Harry. Harry's just a boy, Lottie is her sister. 

"Exactly, but you think I had sex with him!" Lottie sobs, throwing her hand in Harry's direction. 

Harry knows better than to get involved. They won't get physical with each other. He has to let them work it out. 

"If it wasn't him who was it Lottie?" Louis furiously wipes her eyes. "I won't be-" 

"It's Nick! Okay? Are you happy now?" 

What? They don't know a Nick that Lottie knows... 

"What? Who's Nick?" Louis shakes her head. 

Louis looks at Harry, who seems to have caught on before her. Nick? Nick... oh. 

"Oh my god." Louis and Harry say in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICK LOLOOLKTVTVT


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I still don't have WiFi and it sucks very much a lot. I hope you are well, love you xoxox

Serenity is the first to break the silence, outraged that her father forgot to deliver their juice before abandoning them. Louis hops right on that, eager to escape the awkward tension and crying, stares of disbelief. She returns to Harry still staring bug eyed at Lottie, who's crying but angry, arms folded over her chest. 

"Nick," Harry croaks. "Nick as in my sisters-" 

Harry cuts himself off but Lottie shrugs anyway. This is so much for Louis to process, but selfishly she is so fucking relieved it's not Harry's baby. It was either her marriage or Gemma's and well. Sorry Gem. 

On the other hand... her baby sister is having a baby with the man Louis lost her virginity to, the same man who married her husband's sister. The other mom's at the bake sales are right, they are kind of white trash. 

"Does he know?" Harry hasn't blinked since Lottie confessed, and that's been a good three minutes now. "This was a one time thing right? And he just doesn't know," Harry shakes his head, trying to make the situation sound less shitty. It's not working. 

"It's none of your business!" Lottie defends. 

She doesn't have to say it for Louis to know it definitely wasn't a one time thing. Louis just hopes her poor sister isn't in love with the bastard. 

"Lottie, listen to me." Harry grabs her hands and leans in closer. "I have to tell Gemma Lottie, she deserves to know! That's her husband Lottie, she has to know." 

Lottie shakes her head, somehow still rolling her eyes through the tears. "There's no point. He loves her, he already told me he can't be with me and- and, he wants me to give my baby away. If she finds out he'll take my baby." 

He can't, and Louis would do everything in her power to protect her sister and that baby. 

"Lottie." Harry himself has got tears in his eyes. Louis remains silent but sits next to her sister. "I can't let my sister be with someone who cheated on her." 

"If you tell her I'll never talk to either of you again and I mean it." Lottie threatens. 

Louis feels like a hypocrite for thinking Harry shouldn't tell. When it came to her marriage, her husband, she it drove her crazy. At least Gemma is in the dark completely about it all. 

"Harry won't tell." Louis promises. "We won't tell Gemma." 

Harry gives her a hurt look that she ignores for now. Just because they won't tell Gemma doesn't mean Nick won't be hurt, possibly dead the next time he leaves his house. Louis has a plan, several plans brewing in her head already. 

***

Niall gets home late from one of his little (big) side jobs. For some reason he's sweaty when he walks in their room. Zayn wrinkles her nose at him, sprawled out on their bed. When Niall sees her, he smirks and walks towards her. 

"Nope," Zayn shakes her head. "Don't even think about getting in this bed." 

Zayn changes their sheets every single day. Zaidan's too. Niall is /not/ getting on her fresh sheets looking and smelling like that. 

"Why?" He asks, still walking towards her slowly, eyes low. He knows why, bastard. 

"You aren't touching me or this bed until you take a shower." 

He was gone for two, maybe three hours tops. He left after dinner while Zaidan was in the bath before bed. So, how did he get so sweaty? He'd definitely tell Zayn if she asked, but she respects that he prefers for her not to ask. If he wants her to know something, he'll tell her. 

"Oh yeah?" He comes behind her on the edge of the bed. "Say I won't." 

He's in a good mood tonight, must of got paid good then. 

"You won't." Zayn smiles, stretching out across the bed on her side. 

Niall pinches her butt, two of his fingers press against her crotch as he does so. "I won't?" 

She giggles, squirming away from him. "You better not! You stink."

"Come wash me up then." 

If he keeps looking at her like that, she just might. 

"Are you a baby?" Zayn scrunches her nose. "That's not sexy." If she has to treat him like a baby, she will. Literally. 

Niall knows this, so he rolls his eyes but the smirk remains. He tries a different tactic. "I wanna eat it in the shower." He presses his fingers firmer against her crotch. 

Oh. Okay then. She may be dumb but she's no fool. 

"I'm supposed to be telling you about Louis Harry," Louis and Zayn just hung up about ten minutes before Niall walked in the door. That can always wait of course, but Zayn will most likely fall asleep after sex so. 

Niall shrugs, drawing little patterns on her underwear with his fingertips. "I already know." 

Ah. She forgot him and Harry gossip like females. Good. 

"Okay. I'll meet you in there in five minutes." She nods. He really does stink and she'd rather him wash up before she joins... 

Niall holds up two fingers on the hand that isn't violating her. "Two minutes." 

"Go!" Zayn giggles, kicking her foot on his chest. She loves him so very much a lot. 

Zayn waits three minutes before she joins him in the shower, because she's kind of whipped but doesn't want to show it. 

"Don't get my hair wet." She warns, stripping. She blindly adjusts the water before she gets in on the other end. 

"Shut up." Her husband mumbles, pulling her under the spray. 

Her body tingles, all naked and wet and pressed against his. He squeezes her butt, fingers exploring a little further between her legs. 

"I have to leave town in the morning." He whispers to her. 

What? Zayn scrunches her eyebrows, leaning away from him enough to look at his face. "What?" 

They haven't been away from each other in forever... 

"How long? Where are you going?" She's too worried to fully focus on his erection pressing into her hip. He hasn't even left yet and she already misses him. 

"Day or two." Niall shrugs, lifting her thigh to his hip. "You and Zai can meet me there tomorrow afternoon." 

Zayn keeps herself up with one hand around his neck, using the other to line them up. She gasps and flutters her lashes when just the tip is in. 

"We can't leave together?" Her nails dig into his back. 

Niall shakes his head no, pushing her back against the wall so he pin his to it. Both of her thighs wrap around his waist. 

He won't say it, not unless she asks. She's asked before, he got angry but he told her they couldn't leave together because he had to make sure he wasn't followed. There are enough people watching their house around the clock that her and Zaidan are always safe here. 

"Is this-" she moans when he finally thrusts all the way in. "Why it's a bad time to have a baby? I want a baby Niall," 

Niall bites her neck, hard enough to leave a mark as he shakes his head again. "This just came up." He informs between sucking more little marks on her skin. 

He never marks her skin... especially not where people can see. He said it looks trashy. 

"Then-" she whimpers, clinging to his neck. 

"I said we could have a baby if it happens." He reminds her, attacking the other side of her neck. 

The door bell chimes before Zayn can respond. Niall doesn't even turn to look at the monitor on their sink that has a clear view of the front porch. 

"You expecting somebody?" He accuses. 

Zayn rolls her eyes. She seen this coming. This actually explains the hickeys. 

"You thought I'd be out later or something?" He raises his voice. 

She stays calm, smiling a little. "Really, baby?" He thinks she's dumb or something. 

"Don't baby me! Is that why you didn't wanna shower with me? So you could warn your little booty call that I came home already?" 

The door bell chimes again. 

"You think I didn't see the cuts on your knuckles?" She narrows her eyes at him. "You think I wouldn't catch on that shower sex is your alibi?" 

He rolls his eyes, looking away. Busted. 

"I got you, okay babe? Don't start a fight with me, okay?" She lets her legs down and pats his cheeks on her way out of the shower. "Let's go get the door before it wakes up Zaidan." 

Niall's so dumbstruck. All he can do it nod and follow. "I love you so much." He isn't sure if said that out loud or in his head... 

Probably out loud with the way Zayn's smiling as she ties her robe. 

Niall quickly puts his own robe on as well. Normally he'd just get a towel, but depending on who's here... He doesn't know how long this will take. Yaser's guys... five minutes. Police- who the fuck knows. 

All Niall knows, is if it's police, he's having a serious talk with the guys guarding the house. They're supposed to warn him about this shit. 

Zayn opens the door to two tall men in leather coats. 

"Can I help you?" Her voice is all confused and sweet. Innocent. Niall really does love her so very much. 

"Who is it?" He crowds behind her, keeping the angry and suspicious husband act alive. 

Dixon, one of the men Niall has guarding their house looks rather uncomfortable. Good. Niall's wife is almost naked in front of him... He should be uncomfortable. Niall would knock his lights out and have the other guard finish him if he weren't. 

"Sir," his voice deep, eyes looking past Zayn and at Niall only. Good lad. "We have your brother waiting outside of the gate for permission to be let in," 

Halfway through Dixon's sentence Zayn turns to glare at Niall. 

"Just as you asked us to do." Dixon reveals, getting Niall in more trouble. Definitely not getting laid tonight, probably. 

"You did /what/?" Zayn scolds. 

Fucking Greg. Niall would rather it be a detective. 

"It's almost midnight, the fuck does he want?" Niall tries Dixon's technique of ignoring Zayn while he can. 

"I don't know who you are," Zayn warns Dixon, tone scary and serious.

She may be small, but she is powerful. The people around her are powerful. Her father and her husband will kill for her, not to mention the men on Yaser's team and the man standing in front of her who would kill for her. 

"But whenever, and I mean /whenever/ Greg wants to come into this house, he is allowed. Do you understand me?" 

Dixon glances at Niall, worried, which causes Zayn to direct her glare back to him. 

"No, fuck no." Niall rolls his eyes. 

Zayn licks her teeth and folds her arms over her chest. "Let him in /my/ house, or you will not like what happens next." 

Yeah, Niall would much rather there be a defective at his door right now. Fucking Greg, man. 

"Fine, fuck! Let him in." Niall breaks. He's not happy about it. 

If Zayn were violent, she probably would have hit him just then. She's only ever hit him once when Zaidan was a baby, and Niall, well. He's wanted to choke the life out of her but he'd off himself before actually doing so. 

Dixon nods, boots making a thud sound as he walks away. 

"Why do you do that to him?" Zayn is actually irritated. Why does she love Niall's brother so much? It's annoying. "He actually loves you, and your son and all he wants is to spend time with you and-" 

"It's fucking midnight!" Niall argues. "I was just balls deep in your guts I don't wanna fucking spend time with Greg, I wanna get back in there and go to bed." 

"I'm not talking about just tonight!" She yells, frustrated. Why? It's just Greg. "Who else needs permission to knock on our door, Niall?"

Niall shrugs. "I dunno." Idiots like Eleanor and Justin are to be removed immediately. Her sister and stupid husband have to ask. People like them. 

Before Zayn can tell at him some more Greg approaches, a little breathless from the walk up their driveway. 

"Hey guys, sorry to wake you." He hugs Zayn, and tries to hug Niall but Niall pushes him away. 

There's a fucking obvious as shit boner tented in Niall's towel, he's not hugging a man while he has a boner. 

"It's no problem at all Greg." Zayn lies. Well, she tells the truth on her behalf. It's very much a problem on Niall's. 

"What are you doing here so late?" Niall cuts the shit. Get to the fucking point already, loser. 

"Why didn't you call?" Zayn wonders. 

"Neither of you ever answer! And I keep getting blocked and unblocked on your Facebook," 

Zayn gives Niall yet another dirty look, so again Niall asks: "What do you want?" 

Greg takes a long breath, face looking a bit worried himself. It's super annoying that Zayn puts a comforting hand on Greg's shoulder. 

"Somebody came to the house lookin' for you," he informs Niall, voice much quieter than it usually is. "Said they're friends of Grimshaw and they'll be back." Greg pulls his jacket off, and Niall's about to yell at him for getting comfortable uninvited until he sees the cut on his big brothers arm. 

"They came to the house?" Niall's furious! That prick Nick got what he deserves for knocking up Lottie and cheating on Gemma! He has the balls to send someone to Niall's mother's home? "You left mom there by herself?" 

Greg shakes his head. "Dad's up." 

Oh, because he's so much protection. 

"They said they wouldn't be back until tomorrow, I don't know what's going to happen when they come back." 

Niall finally looks at his wife. She's already looking at him, and she's scared. Why? Niall's got this. 

"Do you trust me?" He says, low and just for her. 

"With my life." Greg answers with a nod. Niall rolls his eyes. 

It takes her a minute, but Zayn nods. "Ditto." 

Good, because he's got this. He does.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been lacking Harry, so lots of Harry here. :) warning !!! For a brief sec you're gonna get irritated probably but otherwise I think this is a cute chapter??? :))

The Horan's end up not leaving their house because Niall's not a pussy, but he decides that Nick is.

"Greg's a fucking moron." Niall rants to Harry during their workout. Niall's lifting weights and Harry's stretching- for what, Niall isn't sure yet.

"He made it seem like a gang of grown men came to my mother's house."

Harry hums, gracefully switching to his other leg for stretching. "It was just his parents and his uncle," he shakes his head.

Nick doesn't have friends, and if he does they're barely out of high school. High school kids these days aren't like they were.

"Yeah. He showed me a fucking cut on his arm like there was a threat. Even Zayn was mad at him when he told us he cut himself on our gate. You know that broken piece? The idiot cut himself on that."

There was a lot of "I told you so" and "see what I've been saying?" when Zayn was mad at Greg. He's just annoying. He's like a baby only way more stupid.

"I worried about Gemma." Harry confesses, continuing his alternating toe touches as Niall adds more weights to his own set.

"Gem's been trying to have a baby. I think she's infertile or whatever." Harry feels so, so sad for his sister. She doesn't deserve this, any of it.

Niall breathes out a laugh, face all red and sweaty. "We'd know for sure if you would have let me get at her when I wanted to,"

Every time Gem came home from college, Harry would not let Niall come to his house. One time was enough. All Harry heard was how hot she was, and multiple nasty sexual things that Niall bets she was good at from being in college. It was disturbing.

The danger zone of lifting weights or not, Harry throws his water bottle at his so called friend.

"You're not porking my sister unless I can pork your wife," he replies, childishly because he knows it'll piss Niall off.

Both men, at least Harry, realize they have no say in who the women in question sleep with.

"That's totally different." Harry knew Niall would say that. "Your sister wants me, my wife doesn't want you."

Niall laughs this time when Harry frantically looks for something to throw and finds nothing.  
*

After the boys sick work out and clean up they decide to have a quick lunch before heading back to their separate homes. Call it what you will, but they miss hanging out with just each other. They're best friends, man.

"Zayn keeps texting me things like, "your baby wants tacos" or "your baby wants ice cream"," Niall pauses to gauge Harry's reaction while he chews. "I think she's trying to hint that she's pregnant."

Harry makes a surprised face, quickly chewing and swallowing what's in his mouth because he's not rude like Niall. "Really? That's great man, congratulations."

It doesn't feel great, is the thing. "I guess. I mean, she's been wanting a baby since the last one." Niall keeps his eyes on his plate.

He never really talked about how he felt when Zayn lost the baby, because he couldn't. He had to be strong for her and their son, and at the time his nieces too. It fucked him up though, seeing that. There was like, a whole baby in Zayn's underwear. Niall was the one that had to clean her blood off of her parents floor. Niall was the one who listened to her cry and be otherwise silent for days at a time. He's scared.

"You're worried." Harry nods. "Everything will be fine, bro. You guys are in a better place than last time, you know?" His friend doesn't say anything, so Harry continues. "You guys are happy. Her body is healed properly. There's not so much stress on her."

Niall nods, but truthfully that shit goes in one ear and out the other. Niall can't take losing another baby. Can't take his wife losing another baby. What made it even worse is that they were past the safety mark. Anything can happen up to three months, and their baby quit on them after five. Was it six? Niall hates thinking about it.

"She tells Zaidan he has a sister in heaven." Niall rolls his eyes.

"Well." Harry shrugs. "He does,"

"She didn't even have a name, Harry." They were told it was a girl, and Niall's shit at names but he wanted her to have a real pretty name. Pretty like her, pretty like her mother.

"So give her a name." He shrugs again. "There aren't rules to this stuff, Niall. You want her to have a name? Give her a name."

He's probably right, but it still feels weird. All of it.

***

"And we can put this in the soup too, daddy." Aubree nods, holding out her extra go-gurt tube. She's greedy and has to have two at a time for a snack.

Serenity shakes her head as she helps her dad put veggies in the pot. "That doesn't go in soup Bree. That will be so gross, right dad?"

"Uh!" Aubree whines, pink yogurt on her top lip. "No it won't, right daddy?"

The dad smiles, calmly chopping more celery and carrots for their homemade soup. "Um, well. It might not be good in the soup, but maybe we can make a dessert with yogurt."

"It's go-gurt daddy." Aubree politely corrects.

"Sorry. How could I forget?"

Harry's very relaxed this afternoon. He had a good workout with Niall and he came home to all of his girls happy to see him, which hasn't happened in forever. Usually the girls are gone or sleeping when he gets home. If they're not, they ignore him. Except for Aubree.

"You're a boy." Serenity shrugs.

"Mom says boys are bery dumb and stupid." Aubree nods.

Harry stops chopping and stares at the cutting board in shock, processing this information. His girls... they are... something else, that's for sure. They don't even mean to be insulting, they're just serious. Good. Harry doesn't need his babies around boys any time soon.

"That's right." Harry decides. Well, his inner dad decides. "Boys are stupid and dumb and they have germs that will kill you. Except me, because I'm handsome."

Aubree nods, absorbing this wisdom. Daddy is so smart.

Serenity, on the other hand. Well. "So boys who are handsome don't have the germ?" She's confused.

"Well, no." That's not what he was going for at all. "I don't have the germ because I'm your dad, I just so happen to be handsome."

"You are bery handsome, daddy." Aubs touches her dad's cheeks with her cold little hands. So soft and tiny.

"But mumma didn't die," the six year old observes. She's too smart for Harry.

"Because we're in love. You won't die from the germ if you're in love," he has no idea what the fuck he's talking about. It just seems like a good idea to keep his girls away from boys for forever. He's doing the easy work now by planting it in their naive little heads that boys are dangerous. That is somewhat true. Look at him, he knocked up Louis and tied her ass down before she even had a chance at life. He doesn't want that for his kids, not that he'd take it back or anything.

"Yeah." Blondie agrees, like she already knows this or something. "Because, remember that man that said to mom 'will you be my boyfriend' and hers said no I'm- I am married',"

What? When the hell was this? Harry furrows his brows at his youngest baby, ready to interrogate when his oldest steps in.

"No Bree mom said him wanted- he wanted to be her boyfriend, he didn't say will you be my boyfriend! He said she is /saxy/." Serenity says the last part slowly so her sister can pick up on it.

Honestly, Harry is curious as fuck as to why he's just hearing about this. Then again, him and Louis haven't really been talking but still.

"What's saxy daddy?" Serenity asks.

"I don't know." He plays dumb for the sake of his children's innocence. "What do you think it means?"

His baby twin taps her chin, tilting her head back and forth thoughtfully. "Hmm."

"I think it means fat, because our mom has a fat butt." Aubree says, blue eyes shining bright as she blinks innocently.

Harry barks out a loud laugh, which both girls join in on. Louis has gotten thick, her ass is ridiculous these days. He got a nice feel on that the other day at Niall's.

"Where were you guys at? When the man called your mom that word?" He asks, tone light so he doesn't make them nervous or whatever.

"We went to a- to a um," Serenity tries to remember how to say a certain word. Sometimes when she talks with her sister, or just really fast her grammar gets a little jumbled. She doesn't like it and she gets frustrated, but only with herself. She's usually pretty patient with her sister. "We was at um... Um. McDonald's!" She smiles, proud of herself.  
Oh, okay then. Someone hit on Louis at McDonald's. That happens literally every time she goes there. No biggie.

"He was nice to me and Bree but him was uglyyyyyyy." Serenity makes a face, tossing veggies in their pot one at a time.

"I ate a chicken nuggets and Ren had a chicken nuggets too and mom had two burgers cause hers was bery hungry and Auntie Gem said that's why hers butt is so big."

Aubree is obsessed with her mom's butt. Her and her dad have so much in common.

"Even Man said hers butt was big, right Renity?"

These girls remember everything. Every little minor detail. Sometimes it's exhausting to listen to but usually it makes for a funny story.

"His name isn't Man, Bree. His name is /Stan/." She corrects slowly.

"What did you just say?" Harry barks at his daughter, horrified. This better be a coincidence because...

"I didn't say nothing bad!" Serenity has a worried look on her little fat face, scared she's going to be in trouble.

Fuck. "No, no." Harry assures her. "I just couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"My sister said his name is /not/ Man it's Stan." Aubree isn't scared. If daddy gets mad at her, she'll just say sorry and he won't be mad anymore. It's easy breezy.

"Did mommy talk to him for a long time?" Harry asks quietly, going back to chopping his vegetables. He's so pissed right now. Louis is such a hypocrite, always turning shit around on him.

Serenity shrugs, so Harry turns to Aubree for the answer. "It wasn't bery long." She also shrugs her bony shoulders. "Can you just make me a swamwich this soup is taking all day!"

It's Serenity's turn to whine now. "Uh! It's just for dinner Bree, and you're not even helping us!"

The soup is going to take some time though, sorry Harry will make them both sandwiches after he gets it on the stove.

*

Louis wakes up from the world's longest nap because apparently Harry didn't wake her up. She looks at the time on her phone, and honestly she could sleep more but she feels bad she slept through dinner and getting the girls in bath and bed. Hopefully they at least had fun with their dad.

She checks in their room, and sure enough they're sound asleep. Fuck. She feels like shit. She goes to the bathroom and washes her face before investigating the rest of the house; as in where is Harry and is there dinner?

Harry isn't hard to find. He's laying on the couch half asleep watching television.

"How come you didn't get me up?" Louis pouts, shuffling over to sit by him. She wanted to hang out with him and the kids today, but she ended up sleeping the whole time.

Harry shrugs. Okay then...

"You said you would," she would reminds him, fake grumpy. When she's fake grumpy he used to cuddle her and kiss her ass until she was happy again. She figures, maybe that could be a start to get them back to the way they were before.

"I peeked through your phone while you were sleeping." He confesses, sleepy.

Louis takes a chance and lays her head on his shoulder. "Okay." She doesn't care. All he's going to find in there is her complaining about him and a ton of three ingredient meals. There's not a lock on if for a reason.

"Were you ever gonna mention you met up with Stan?"

Louis turns her head so her face is hidden in his shoulder. It feels weird being by him again, so close. Touching him. She missed it. It's nice.

"Wasn't worth mentioning." She mumbles. "I didn't meet up with him. He works McDonald's, I took the girls there to play after school."

Harry hums. "Bumping into your high school boyfriend and him talking about your ass isn't worth mentioning? Alright."

"You're my high school boyfriend." And so is Nick, if he wants to get technical, which he doesn't because the truth will hurt his feelings.  
"How do you know what he said? Did the girls hear him?" That was the one day they didn't bolt towards the play area. Figures. Any other time she can't get them to come out of it.

"They said he called you saxy."

Louis laughs. She didn't even tell Zayn she seen Stan because honestly he's such an embarrassment to her rep. She is so lucky Serenity came out looking exactly like Harry or else there could have been a possibility that... well. Doesn't matter, because she's Harry's. Not Nick's or Stan's. Harry's.

"He's twenty five, divorced, and works at McDonald's. He left his baby with his ex wife but swears he's getting custody." Louis laughs. "He tried to woo with with his possible management position. He literally hit on my while he was mopping the floor."

Harry laughs at that too, obviously relieved.

"What else did I miss?" He asks thoughtfully. "How's work been? What's the gossip? Drama? Whatever. Tell me everything."

Louis lights up like a Christmas tree, ready to tell him all about the girl in her office and how she's probably sleeping with the boss. It feels like she's getting her very best friend back. She's so happy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bitter beauty asked for Harry to get a blow job you got it babe !!! Lol <3

Louis sighs, staring dreamily out of the kitchen window. The girls are messing with Harry as he tries to light the grill, and Niall is next to him giving in him instructions. Niall looks frustrated that he can't do it himself because he's holding Zaidan, and Zaidan's in a mood today so he screams whenever he's put down. 

Louis loves her little family. 

"I think I'm gonna have another baby." She says quietly to Zayn, who is scrolling through her phone next to her. 

However, that catches her best friends interest. "Really?" 

Louis nods, biting her lip. "Not like. Not right now or anything, but maybe in a year or two." 

Things with her and Harry are good now, but it's only been a few days. While she has no doubt they'll stay good because of how miserable they both were when they were bad, she's no fool. Shit could hit the fan any day, any time. Blow right up in her face. If they can stay good, stay /them/ for a year... why not have another baby? 

"Me and Ni have been trying too." Zayn's eyes are back on her phone. "But... I," she stutters, not wanting to say the words. "I think I can't." 

Harry's wife raises an eyebrow at Niall's wife. "What do you mean?" 

Mrs. Horan shrugs. "I've been reading about how low chances are after a miscarriage," she trails off. 

That has to be terrible. Louis feels for her. She hopes she never has to go through what Zayn went through. 

Louis rubs Zayn's shoulder comfortingly. "I think you'll be just fine, babe." She believes it too, but hell. She's no doctor. 

She smiles, pretty face lighting up. "Me too." 

Zayn's excited, but nervous. She could be pregnant right now and as badly as she wants to tell Louis, she has to tell her man first. Then maybe she should take a test to know for sure. She's just too excited. 

Niall bursts through the side door before either of them can say anything else. 

"Take him." He's frustrated, trying to hand Zaidan to one of the women. Either of them, since he's apparently not allowed to put him down. 

"Come here, baby." Zayn coos at her little man, who whines and clings tighter to Niall when Louis tries to touch him. "He's tired, he didn't have a nap today." 

Niall huffs at his son. "I'll come get you in a minute, I gotta help uncle Harry before he causes an explosion in the garage." 

Zaidan doesn't care. "Noooooo!" 

"Come on, buddy. Knock this off. Why are you being like this today? Huh?" Niall is trying so hard not to snap on the boy. It's not his fault he's emotional, but it's annoying right now. He's never like this. 

"No." The three year old squeaks. 

"He's over tired Niall, I told you he didn't want to nap. You're the one who woke him up this morning way before he's supposed to be up." Zayn semi snaps. 

Louis has noticed that Zayn babies the boy and only lets Niall punish him when /she's/ frustrated with him. She says nothing, but those two are in for it. Zaidan is a sweetheart but sometimes when he doesn't get his way he kicks and hits and screams. Kind of like Serenity did. Louis won't lie, there's been a few times she had to take that little girl in the bathroom and light her ass up. She won't admit that, though. And she felt bad after, but Serenity didn't hit her any more after that. 

Zayn takes Zaidan from her husband despite the boys whining, having to peel Niall's shirt from his fingers. 

"It's okay bud," she shushes him, shooing Niall away. "You want a cookie? Momma has some cookies," 

Zaidan stops whining at the offer of a cookie, so Niall takes that time to make his escape. 

"Poor babe." Sad kids always make Louis sad. 

Especially Zaidan. That boys got it soooo rough. (Sarcasm.)

"I think we're gonna go soon anyways, after Niall helps Harry." Zayn gently swings her boy back and forth, soothing him while he takes small bites of the cookie. 

"You can stay for dinner if you want." Louis offers. She thought that's what they came here for anyway. 

"Nah. He's gotta get to B-E-D soon," she looks cute as a mom, Louis' bestie. Zaidan is almost as long as her because she's so small but it's cute. 

"Do you wanna stay here tonight, bubba? You wanna stay with aunt Lou?" Louis offers, rubbing his back. 

Zaidan pouts and turns his head the other way on Zayn's chest. That's a no. It's okay. Louis only offered because Zayn would say no anyways since the kids crabby. 

"I'll miss you, bub." That's true. She loves the little stinker even if he's a brat. Her kids were a lot worse. At least Zaidan never calls his parents by their names... Serenity. 

"Can you say bye to Aunt Louis?" Zayn kisses her baby's head as he shakes it no. "Don't feel offended. He's settling for me right now until you know who gets back."

Louis isn't offended. She already knows how this baby works. When he was a little smaller he'd follow her around and sit on the floor by her feet while she cleaned, and if Harry tried to pick him up he'd scream. He's picky about who gives him attention. It's cool. 

"It's okay, Auntie Lou still loves you bub." 

Zaidan sighs, turning his head back around. He doesn't lift if off his mom's chest, but he does pucker his lips and curl his finger for Louis to come give him a kiss. 

"Awww." Zayn coos when Zaidan let's Louis kiss his little lips. "That's so nice, baby." 

"You'll always be my favorite, okay buddy?" Louis uses her baby voice, petting the boys soft hair. "I don't care how many your mom has. You're my favorite." 

Zayn rolls her eyes. That's so not fair... Zayn doesn't have a favorite. She used to, and it was Aubree. But now... they're both sweet and she loves them equally. 

"I'll call you later." Zayn lies. They both know it's a lie. Louis might get a text or two but Zayn won't call. She kisses Louis on the cheek and heads outside with her boy, as expected Niall is telling her to say goodbye to everyone so they can leave. 

***

"Mom," Aubree sniffles, eating her breakfast while Louis puts her hair in pigtails. 

"What babe?" Louis is still in jammies. She's going in late today. 

"How come my dad is taking us to school?" 

Serenity herself is laying against Harry all sleepy, holding her bagel instead of eating it. Her dad is warm, and she's so comfortable. 

"We both are. All your friends mommy's think I'm single because they never seen your dad before." 

Which is ridiculous, because Louis has a wedding ring and talks to them about their dad at school all the time. Louis is just sick of the looks from those bitches and when they see how hot her husband is compared to their own... hah. Louis will have the last laugh. 

"Do you want your hair up or in a headband?" Louis gives Serenity an option every morning. Usually she picks the headband, sometimes she'll ask Louis to put it up. 

"I want to cut it all off like Daddy's." Serenity giggles, purposely being a shit because she knows dad is sensitive about his hair. 

"/You/ cut it all off." He grumpily reminds the girl on his lap, tickling her tummy. 

Her and Harry are both going to work late so they can take the kids to school together and have breakfast together. Some alone time that isn't right before they have to go to bed. 

"Okay." Louis agrees, tying up Aubree's pigtails. "Daddy, go get the scissors." 

Harry looks up at his wife, eyes dark and yeah, his frog face is there. He better control himself while he's in sweatpants with their kid on his lap. Honestly. 

"Him's is not your daddy, mom." Aubree reminds her. Jealous little turd. "Your's daddy is papa." She refers to her mother's husband. 

"Something like that." It's too early in the day and in life to explain to her kids what a step father is. 

"Uncle Niall is your daddy Bree." Serenity giggles evily, knowing it will upset her sister. 

It works. "Nuh uh!" She whines, whipping her head around to send her mom an accusing look. 

She does look a bit like Niall, blonde with blue eyes. Louis still cannot believe this child is blonde. 

"That's gross." Louis scrunches her nose. 

"He's not my dad! My dad is right there Renity, don't you say that!" The little blonde baby is close to crying. Aw. 

Harry coos at his baby. "Of course I'm your daddy, sweetheart." 

"I don't /want/ to live with Niall!" Aubree carry on. 

What? Louis raises her eyebrow at Harry, Serenity still snuggled against his chest smiley her wicked little smile. 

"Why would you have to live with Niall?" Shit. Has this girl seen Niall's house? Louis wants to live with Niall. 

"My friend Emily!" Aubree screams as if that's an explanation. 

These parents are so not ready for teenage girls. Two teenage girls at that. 

"She has a different dad than her brother who's a baby- not like Zaidan or even Ernest or Dory, he's very small and sometimes Emily has to go to her other house. I don't want to go to another house!" 

Louis huffs. It's too early for this and all Aubree's distressed wiggling around has caused her pigtails to be lopsided. Fuck it, she won't notice. 

"Why do you do that to her?" Louis pulls Serenity, who is just in underwear, to sit up on her dad's lap so she can start on her hair. "Why do you rile her up every morning?" 

Serenity whines and tries to fling herself back the second the brush touches her curls. Harry holds her still with gentle but firm hands. Always gentle with their baby. 

"I wasn't being serious." Serenity groans, reluctantly submitting to the grooming. 

"You were being mean," Louis corrects the girl. 

"You were being a stupid ugly!" Aubree cries with a milk mustache coating her top lip. 

"Hey!" Harry yells, eyebrows all crazy. "She was joking with you, knock that off." 

Serenity sticks her tongue out and Aubree cries harder. Louis squeezes Serenity's cheeks together and forces the girl to look up at her. "Stop it." 

Louis slips a headband on Serenity's head before tossing the brush on the table. She wipes Aubree's lip with her thumb and picks her up, carrying her to her room to get her dressed. 

"Don't cry, pretty girl." Louis wipes her tears, setting her on her bed. She distracts her from her sadness by letting her pick her own very colorful outfit and telling her how fabulous she looks. 

She actually feels lucky that a few mean jokes are as evil as Serenity gets with her little sister. Aubree is super emotional and sensitive, and admittedly, it could be a lot worse between them. 

*

"Breakfast was good." Louis smiles, leaning over the console to kiss on her man while he drives. 

Harry smiles, squeezing her thigh. In a way, he's glad they had this emotional time apart. It makes him appreciate her so much more. He's glad to be back, both mentally and physically. 

"But I could go for some dessert." She smiles, licking his ear as she cups his crotch through his jeans.

Harry's legs tense, arms flexing and gripping the steering wheel tighter. "Yeah?" 

"Mhm." She confirms, rubbing him. What an amateur, he's already getting hard. 

He glances at the clock on the dash. "We'll be late for work," oh honey. As if he's ever taken more than ten, fifteen minutes top when he's in her mouth. They'll be fine. 

"Are you gonna give me it, daddy?" She pushes his buttons, smiling to herself when she feels his cock jerk in his jeans. 

Harry groans. "You want it?" 

He thinks she wants to fuck. She does, but she's going to save that for later and blow him for now. 

"I wanna taste it." The best wife he doesn't deserve tries to wiggle her fingers in his waistband. His pants are too fucking tight for that though, but when she goes for his zipper he moves her hand away. 

"Why?" She whines. Is he seriously turning down a blowie? 

"We're almost home. We can't fuck in a car, it's daylight!" What a lame. Louis should divorce him. Too soon? Probably. It's not like she's actually going to divorce him because he's lame.

He's also right. They're parents now. They have a lot to lose and it'd be a shame to lose it due to a public indecency charge. But still. It's fun to mess with him. 

"I miss the way it feels in my mouth." She moans into his neck. "So big, I want it so bad." 

They pull into their driveway, all the way up to the garage. Louis goes to unlock her door but stops when she hears Harry's belt. He shimmies around a bit until his pants are rolled down his thighs a little, cock bobbing ridiculously. 

"Oh?" Louis twists in her seat so she won't cramp from the angle she has to bend at. "You don't want to go inside and fluff the pillows?" 

Harry ignores the jab. "You're not all talk, are ya?" He strokes himself, angling his prick at her. 

"Aye, don't point that thing at me." With that being said, Louis replaces his hand with her own. God, it's thick. They should stay home from work today, not go in at all. 

Her mouth honestly waters at the precome already soaking the tip. She slurps it off, letting her tongue lazily mop up what she missed. 

"I'll come," her husband warns. "From just that. God baby, you're so sexy," 

She feels sexy. A cock in the mouth will do that to a girl. 

After a few more soft lick to the head, she works on fitting the rest in there. She's got to open her mouth wider than she remembers to avoid getting him with her teeth. It's a tight fit and less than half of his length is in her mouth, she blames it on the angle but really she's out of practice. Once upon a time she could swallow this cock down to the base without choking. Then she got lazy with it, then she stopped completely for a few months. 

"Your mouth feels so fucking good baby," Harry pants. 

Louis replies by moaning and sucking harder. She bobs her head up and down leisurely, hand working what her tongue can't reach. Harry pushes her hair out of her face, pulling her up a little. He forces his prick to poke the inside of her cheek, moaning and groaning at the sight. 

"You're so beautiful baby," he tells her, breathless. "I'm gonna come, you want me to come?" He babbles. 

Louis keeps sucking but checks her wrist for a watch that isn't there. Harry gets it. She's making fun of him, it's been like two, maybe five minutes. He gets it because he smiles and his smile is so pretty that Louis sucks harder, wanting to make him feel as good as possible. 

"Can I come in your mouth? I'm about- I'm coming, Louis I'm-" 

Louis takes him in further, eyes watering. He comes down her throat, balls tensing and jerking in her hand. She swallows all of it, pulling off slowly and letting her long drag along his length on her way. Harry watches her the entire time. 

She smiles, puckering her lips for a kiss. Mostly to be a pain, so naturally she's surprised when Harry puts his tongue in her mouth.

"Mm. I love you," 

"I love you." He agrees. "Do you want me to-" he reaches between her legs. Romantic. 

"Later." As much as she'd love that, they actually can't spend the day fucking. They gotta get to work and be responsible adults. "Can I go brush my teeth now?" 

Harry leans back, smiling all dopey and sated. She'll be surprised if he himself goes in today. "Brush 'em at work, with the good toothpastes." 

Loser. Louis gets their toothpaste from her job, so it's all the same. 

"Mhm. Cute." She takes his keys out of his pocket, leaving her own in the ignition. She can take his car today, but he'll have to pick up the kiddos. "You gettin' the girls today?" 

Harry blinks, obviously surprised. "I can, yeah," 

"Good." She kisses his cheek and hops out. 

He gets out too, probably to follow her inside and change real quick. Louis doesn't go inside though, instead she runs to his car and starts it before he can stop her. He can take the soccer mom car and she'll take the cool car today.


	18. Chapter 18

Hanging out at Niall and Zayn's house this time is totally different than it was last time. Hell, tonight is different than its been any time this bunch has been together, and it's weird. 

For starters, neither set of parents have their kids. All of the kiddies are off with their grandparents for the night. Secondly, Liam brought some exotic girl with him who is definitely /not/ Danielle but definitely /is/ his girlfriend, and that's just weird. Especially for Liam. 

Tonight is mostly different in the weird kind of way because it's Zayn and Niall fighting this time while Harry and Louis are cuddled up and cute. That never happens. But Niall's a little drunk, and there's a new, female guest in their group. So. Self explanatory, really. 

"Where you from again?" Niall nudges the girl with his beer again. He's asked her this more than four times already and Zayn is losing her patience. 

/Melina/ smiles, big white teeth and crinkly eyes. Fucking bitch. "Brazil!" She laughs at Niall with her stupid accent that isn't even really all that sexy. 

"Yeah Niall. Keep up." Josh mock scolds, arm bumping Zayn's. He can tell she's off, even when her own husband can't. 

"Her accent is throwing me off! You don't look like you're from Brazil," 

How the fuck does someone look like they're from anywhere? Zayn catches Louis' eye and rolls her own. 

"She is." Liam nods. "She definitely is..." 

Ew. 

"Oh stop it, you!" Liam's date swats his arm and honestly, what the fuck Liam? Why would he bring her, this fucking random, to Zayn's house to chill with people who are like a second family? Why wouldn't he bring, oh maybe his fiancee? 

Louis can tell her best friend is irritated. That would definitely not be her, but... "I didn't know Danielle was Brazilian." Louis plays dumb. 

Harry puts a warning hand on her back. Well, not so much a warning because if she pops off he definitely doesn't want none, so it's more of a reminder to stay out of it. 

Josh makes a weird sound, attempting to disguise it by drinking. Harry feels him, and he also drinks to that. Water of course. 

"Danielle?" The new girl looks at Liam all confused and pouty lipped. 

"Louis had short term memory loss." Liam lies, turning to Louis. "Her name is Melina." 

"And she's from Brazil." Niall remembers. 

Oh please. Zayn is so over this. "Excuse me," she excuses herself. 

Niall has literally paid her zero attention since Liam and his side chick showed up. Proof is that she was sitting next to Josh the whole time and Niall didn't even blink in their direction. 

Louis a bit disappointed in the girl, disappointed and sad until Zayn turns around and says: "Niall, can I talk to you for a minute?" Then Louis is proud. 

"Course." Niall follows her in. 

Zayn leads her husband to the kitchen, leaning against the counter and folding her arms over her chest. 

"What are you doing?" She asks him. He's the one that wanted to invite everyone over. If she had her way, they'd be on the couch eating and watching movies and cuddling. 

"Huh?" Niall raises an eyebrow as his woman, confused. 

Zayn blinks at him. They don't fight, not really but tonight they might. Zayn is annoyed. "Why are you being nice to her?" 

It's Niall's turn to blink in confusion now. "Who? Melanie?" 

Oh, maybe he's drunker than she thought. But still. "Whatever her name is. Why are you being so nice to her? Liam is cheating on his fiancee, Niall." 

Niall shrugs. "So?" 

So? So?? "It makes me uncomfortable having her around." 

Honestly, it's not got anything to do with Liam or Danielle or even Melina. It's that, if Niall were cheating on her she'd like to think his friends wouldn't be so pleasant to the bitch. It's as stupid of a thought as it isn't. 

"Why? We don't know Danielle, Liam's a grown man." He reasons, face red and cute. How is she supposed to stay angry when he's so cute. 

"If you ask her where she's from one more time," Zayn changes tactics and points her finger in his face. "You will not die a happy man Niall Horan, so help me-" 

"You're my wife, aren't you?" He's got that look on his face. His cocky, smirky, flirting face. "Right?" 

She nods, finger hanging stupidly in the air.

"Of course I'm gonna die a happy man. I got you." 

Aw. Zayn sucks her lips in her mouth to avoid smiling. She's still upset and he can't just flirt with people then say cute shit and get away with it. 

"Don't worry about her, okay? I don't care where she's from-" 

"Then why did you ask so many times?" Because it seemed like he was flirting with her... 

"Liam can get a girl from every country in the world and none of them will be as hot as you. He knows that. None of his girls will ever be as hot as mine." 

Yeah, okay. Whatever. "Stop talking to her." She warns, weak. 

Niall nods, leaning his face super close to hers. He looks her in her eyes for a few seconds before closing them to kiss her. 

After all these years, he still tastes like beer and sour patches and love. 

"I'm serious." She reminds him. He nods, kissing her one more time. 

Louis joins joins them, flush faced and giggly. She's barely even drunk, mostly just happy to be around her man again. It's good to see. 

"I came to watch you guys fight." Louis smiles when the couple looks at her questioningly. 

Harry barks out a surprised laugh behind her. "No!" He covers her mouth, still giggling. "We came to make sure you're alright, right Lou?" 

Louis shakes her head and Harry giggles again, biting her shoulder. 

Oh god. 

Niall rolls his eyes at his friends. Can he enjoy a private moment with his woman in peace? Fucks sake. "Why wouldn't we be?" 

Louis eyes them suspiciously, leaning back into Harry. "Okay. Just checking," 

Everyone ends up going home early because for the rest of the night Niall grossly gropes his wife, asking her to "gimme kiss" every two minutes. 

***

Louis groans over the stove where she's making dinner when she hears a knock on the door. Who the fuck is bothering them now? Clearly a neighbor, because all of their friends and family knock twice on the side door leading to the kitchen before just letting themselves in, so. 

"Harry, can you get the door please?" She yells, reading the instructions for these stupid cheddar biscuits Serenity picked at the grocery store. Will these even go with chicken parm? Whatever. 

Naturally, Harry and children ignore Louis so she saves herself the energy of yelling more and goes to get it herself. She has to do everything around here anyway. 

On her way she hears Harry and the kids having fun in their room, laughing and giggling and Aubree's obnoxious screams from when she laughs too hard. It's not fair Louis is stuck making stupid dinner and talking to neighbors while they have fun. 

"Hello?" Is that what you're supposed to say when you answer the door to a complete stranger? This broad doesn't look like one of their prudent neighbor bitches...

"Niall live here?" She asks. "Niall Horan?"

Louis' honest to God first thought is that this one of the crack heads Niall sells to. Kinda fucked up cause she has a little one with her. 

"Ah, not anymore. Can I help you?" It's the kid that's making her not slam the door in this broads face. Louis is a mother and this woman doesn't look like the kind of person who should be around children. 

The sketchy looking bitch rolls her eyes and huffs. "You know where I can find him?" 

Louis nods, raising an eyebrow. Who looks for smack with their kid? What a loser. 

"You're his friend?" The girl asks. 

"Who are you again?" The fucking feds? With all these questions. 

"This is his kid. I was paid five hundred dollars to drop him off with Niall, but if you know him..." the girl starts pushing the little boy closer to Louis. The poor thing looks so scared. 

What? What the fuck? "Wait what?" Why is this happening to Louis? She told Harry to answer the fucking door for a reason, man. 

"Just drop him off, okay? The kids got papers in his backpack, I gotta-" her only explanation is jutting her thumbs at the cab behind them before running for it. 

Louis is standing there in disbelief, watching as the cab drives away and the kid just stands on her porch, staring up at her. 

"Another cousin?" Aubree gasps behind Louis. "Oh my god! /Renity!/" 

Aubree is more excited for this one than she's ever been for Zaidan. Rude. 

*

Niall panics when Louis and Harry explain what happened, but he never once looks at Zayn. He's too scared of her reaction. 

"That's not my fucking kid, why would you let her leave? You didn't think to maybe call the fucking police? Did you at least get a name?" Niall yells at Louis, all crazy faced. You know he's mad when his eyebrows do... that thing, where they're all wrinkled and furrowed at the same time. 

"She took off, Niall! What was I supposed to do?" Louis defends. 

Niall squeezes his temples, pulling at his hair as he lets out a frustrated groan. "What the fuck do I do?" 

Zayn just listens. She doesn't know what to think about this. She's halfway to pissed off when she looks at the boy. He's just a kid, Aubree's age and he's about to cry. 

She squats down to his size in front of him. "Hi bud," 

None of the adults pay her any mind as they continue yelling about "that kid" right in front of him. 

"I'm Zayn. What's your name?" 

The little guys lip quivers, but he bravely answers: "Elijah." 

Zayn nods. "Nice to meet you Elijah," she holds out her hand for him to shake. He doesn't even look at it before he starts talking again, his next sentence hitting her like a brick and breaking her heart. 

"My mom died, she used to call me Eli but she died." 

Her eyes water. This poor little boy, probably not even five years old and already having a shit life. He doesn't deserve this, this isn't his fault. 

"Do you like to be called Eli?" She asks, because what the fuck else can she say to him right now? 

Elijah nods. His skin is tan and his eyes are green, hair short but curly. A different type of curl than Zaidan has. He's cute, whether he's Niall's or not he's cute. 

"Do you like trucks Eli? I have a son, he's a little guy- littler than you, and he has a whole bunch of trucks." Until they figure out what's going on, they're keeping this kid. Zayn has already decided. 

"I like fire trucks, and big trucks," Elijah is visibly intrigued by the mention of trucks. Good, that's what Zayn was going for. 

"Cool! I have lots of those at my house, okay bud?" She smiles, trying to ease him. Calm him down a bit. 

"Whoa, whoa what are you-" Niall gives his wife the crazy eyes this time. She didn't even notice they were listening. 

"He likes trucks." Zayn gives her husband her own look, one that says she will fight him on this until she wins. "And Zaidan has a lot of trucks. I think they'll be good friends." Or possibly brothers, how crazy. 

To think when Louis called Zayn thought this was a joke. A dumb joke nonetheless but still one Louis would pull. 

"Zayn, you realize we can't just take him-" 

"Speaking of Zaidan, he's the little guy in that room over there." Zayn points to the girls room where the kids are playing. "I think he wants to play with you. Go ahead, don't be shy okay buddy." 

When he goes, slowly but surely, then Zayn talks. Because she's not an oblivious dickhead who doesn't think this child can hear and understand what they're saying about him. 

"We're taking care of him, Niall." 

Niall looks at her like she has two heads. "We can't, Zayn!" 

"But we can." She argues. 

"Baby, listen, I know you want another kid but this- he's not ours baby, and we can't just keep him," 

Zayn isn't fucking dumb, okay. "Of course we can't keep him, he's a child not a puppy. I'm just saying that until we figure out where he belongs, he's staying with us." 

To everyone's surprise, Harry agrees with her. "If you guys didn't, he'd end up in foster care. These papers from his backpack had his birth certificate, it has your name on it bro." 

"I don't know if he's yours," Zayn starts. 

"He's not." Niall shakes his head. 

"What if Zaidan wasn't yours?" She doesn't really know where she's going with this. That was more of her point to accept this child because it's Niall's, because Niall would accept Zaidan because he's Zayn's. Does that make sense? Doesn't matter, Niall's Zaidan's dad. 

However, it gets Niall thinking, because he's always had doubts about Zaidan but they don't matter. He loves that boy. 

"How you handle this says a lot about who you are Niall." Zayn reminds him. "He could be yours, or maybe he isn't. Until you know for sure, we need to do what's right." 

Niall's... baffled, to say the least. He married a truly incredible woman, that's for sure. 

**

Zayn sets Elijah up in a spare room and leaves the television on for him. Zaidan cried and kicked because he couldn't sleep with his new friend, but Zayn thought it best to give Elijah some space for now. 

"You're not mad?" Niall asks, leaning against the sink while Zayn brushes her teeth. 

They looked through the papers Harry was walking about. They found out that his mom's name is Jesy Nelson, he was born six months after Aubree which means they met at the frat. 

"No." She answers honestly. She rinses before explaining. "He's older than Zaidan. If he was younger, we'd have some problems." 

Niall nods, chewing his lip. "I don't even remember his mom." 

Selfishly, that's what Zayn wants to hear. 

"You were kind of a slut in college, babe." She nods sympathetically. 

He snorts, rolling his eyes. "Thanks, dick." 

Today was a long day. Zayn just wants to go to bed. She kisses Niall's cheek before climbing in bed, he follows her shortly after. Today was a long, weird day. At least she didn't start her period, that's a plus.


	19. Chapter 19

There are probably worse ways to be woken up than having hands on your butt and a boner poking your thighs, Louis is sure, but this morning she wouldn't know. She arches up a little, pushing back into his hands. She's a sucker for butt massages, she's missed them. 

But, the sun isn't even up yet, and there are rules in this house: if the sun isn't up, neither is mommy. 

"Haz." She slurs, face buried in the pillow. 

"I think I had a sex dream." His voice is all raspy and thick from sleep. 

One, he better not have ruined the sheets. B, he can tell her about it at a reasonable time. However, his hands continue to squeeze her cheeks, fingertips poking at her crotch in the process. Hmm. She's warm and comfortable, a little turned on now, and Harry won't make her do any work... 

She lifts her head to look at the alarm clock, groaning a little before dropping her head back to her pillow. "Our alarm goes off in twenty three minutes." 

And they can't be late. Louis has to take the girls to school and then rush to her appointment that Harry doesn't know about before heading to work. Her appointment is exactly fifteen minutes after the girls start school and she already told Simon she'd bring him a note. She can't have Harry take the girls because well, then it'd seem suspicious that she's in a hurry. So, busy morning. 

"I only need three." He takes that as permission, pulling her panties down her legs. 

Lou is grunts and rolls on her back, lifting her shirt above her breasts as Harry hovers above her. Actually taking the shirt off is a lot more work than she's willing to do right now.

"Then you shoulda let me sleep twenty more minutes." Even though she knows he's only joking. He's going to need like, seven. 

Harry wastes his three minutes mouthing at her breasts and belly. "So sexy." He ignores her comment. 

"Mhm." Mrs. Styles agrees. "Tell me about your dream." She suggests, locking her ankles around his back when her thighs are high enough on his hips. 

He's already fully hard, she can feel it poking her. Hopefully if he goes slow her stomach won't hurt later, since she'll already be cramping a bit from getting her birth control removed. 

"It was our honeymoon," the tip finds its way to her hole without any guidance. Typical. "When you were dancing in your bra and underwear and your veil, after you just stripped your dress off." 

Oh god, what a disaster that was. It was supposed to be a romantic lap dance but Louis had a little too much champagne and she didn't start out in her dress, but for some reason thought it was a good idea to put it on? 

Louis breaths out a laugh, embarrassed.

"Your body," he shakes his head, pushing in. 

She gasps, unexpected. 

"Your stomach, these thighs," he moans. "I wanna bite you everywhere, you look so good baby." 

Fuck him, okay. Literally fuck Harry because that shouldn't sound as sexy as it does. Just like his stupid frog face she can see half of thanks to the moonlight shouldn't be sexy either, but somehow it is. 

*

That fact that Zayn actually answers the first time Louis calls could mean one of two things: Zayn is bored or Zayn is sad. 

"Hey babe." Zayn definitely doesn't sound sad, so bored it is. 

"Hi Love," Louis' on her way back to work from getting lunch. "Just calling to see how you're doing." 

If Harry had a surprise kid come live with them... Louis has no idea how she'd react. Luckily she's had three longs months of thinking her sister was having his baby to prepare for that scenario. 

"Super good." She's lying, best friend can tell. A door can be heard closing from her end of the line, she's obviously stepped away for privacy. 

"Elijah woke up crying because he forgot where he was, so we've been up since four. Zaidan wants to play with him but throws a fit when he touches his toys, and Niall decided to stay home today for obvious reasons," 

Louis feels for her, only because she's dealing with a kid who isn't her but could possibly be Niall's, that's tough. As far as the kids being a handful, good. Louis wants someone in their group to feel what she's been through staying at home with two evil kids for four years straight. Zayn and Niall always make parenting seem so easy with their one child. Hah. How's that for a dose of reality for these bitches. 

"But all he's doing is staring at the kid and googling what he should do." 

Louis has to mute her phone so she can laugh. Niall's a fucking idiot. 

"First thing he should do is set up a DNA test," Louis advises after she's done giggling. 

"Yeah, he sent someone to get one from the drugstore." 

They /sent someone/. Their life is so annoyingly easy. In the Styles house, the parents used to fight over who gets to go to the store just so they can get a ten minute break to themselves. Except for when the kids want to go, or even worse, only one kid wants to go and the other wants to stay and neither parent wins. 

Anyways. "Those still won't tell you right away," she knows from experience.

Not that she ever had doubts about Harry being her kids father (except Serenity, but that's irrelevant now). It was one of those jokes Louis can't let go of until she takes way too far and, well. She tested Aubree to see if she was actually Harry and Niall's baby instead of hers. It was negative, and a waste of money. 

"And he still should get a legal one in case Elijah isn't his." You can't use those in court, which Louis was going to do had Aubree not been hers. 

She's obviously grown up over the years and excepted the fact that Aubree is hers, but can you blame her for the doubt? She's fucking blonde. 

"He said his mom died." Zayn sounds so sad. "And the woman who dropped him off was one of her friends sisters or something like that." 

Louis coos, sad and sympathetic. It's hard not to think about when her own kids are the same age as him. That's a lot for a kid their age. 

"I don't know how she died. I'm scared to ask if he knows." 

"You're a good person for this, Zee." Louis shakes her head. Aw fuck it, she starts eating in her car so she doesn't have to talk and drive. 

"I'm trying to help him," Zayn confesses. "I want to, I just. I don't know how, Lou." 

Again, she's a better person that Louis is. Louis wouldn't like, be mean to a kid or anything but Louis would definitely be bitching about Harry. Hell, Louis bets Zayn is only frustrated with Niall for being more compassionate with the kid instead of actually angry for having another kid. 

"I don't fucking know what to do. At all." Zayn's sobbing now. "But I can't not try, you know? His mom is dead, he's not even two years older than Zaidan and his mom is dead." 

She doesn't say anything, and she won't yet, but Louis finds it so odd that this kids mom doesn't have any other family to take him. There was no one in their life that could have kept him instead of sending him to a stranger? And why did they wait until she was completely dead? Who the fuck was taking care of him while she was dying, and the exact moment after she died? Louis doesn't understand. 

"Yeah, shit. That's tough babe. He's lucky you found him though, lucked out that you're married to the man on his birth certificate. Imagine if you didn't say anything," she's more so thinking out loud unintentionally, but Zayn is agreeing so it's not a bad thing. 

"I don't know what to think." Zayn repeats. 

"You want me to come by after work? I think Serenity has a little crush on Elijah, all night she kept asking if 'that boy' was living with you guys forever." Louis attempts to lighten the mood before she has to hang up. 

Plus, Louis wasn't kidding about Serenity liking him. Maybe she was just curious but when Harry teased her for liking a boy she got very defensive, which lead to her beating up Harry as Aubree screamed for Louis to "do something, mom!!". 

Zayn laughs. "Yeah babe, that's fine."

*

"What if he is yours?" Zayn asks quietly. 

Niall sighs, throwing his head back. Zayn's probably irritating him, but oh well. She needs to know what he wants to do so that she can be on board with him. She'd love to keep him, would never be opposed to the idea or anything but if Niall doesn't want him... she'll be disappointed, but in the end this is all up to him. All she can do is voice her opinion and support his decisions. 

"I don't even know him." Niall doesn't bother keeping his voice down like his wife did. 

They're in the kitchen preparing dinner while the boys play in the living room. They're in hearing distance and even if Niall doesn't care about Elijah hearing him, he should care about Zaidan hearing him. Zaidan doesn't need to hear his father talking about anyone like that. 

"So?" Zayn snaps back. Niall isn't the only one effected by this and it's so fucking annoying that he's acting the way he is. "You don't know anybody until you try to know them." 

If he wants to be an ass hole he should know better than anyone by now that she can be just as bitchy. 

"Do I explain to my son that he has a brother?" Zayn rolls her eyes, slamming pots on the stove a little harder than necessary. 

Niall sighs again through his nose. "When I find out if it's-" he corrects himself when Zayn glares at him. "If he's mine, then we'll talk to Zaidan. Until then..." 

If Niall had his way, Zaidan would have never even met this kid. Well, for starters this kid wouldn't be here but he damn sure wouldn't be around his child, or his wife. 

"Until then," Zayn doesn't want to hear the rest of that sentence, so she finishes it for him. "It'd be nice if you'd stop acting like he isn't here. Whether he's yours or not he's still a kid." 

Women, with their God damn emotions and feelings and hormones. But... Zayn puts up with a lot from Niall and this isn't her fault. None of it ever really is. 

"Okay." Niall nods. He'll try, but only for her. Only because she wants him to. Damn this woman. 

***

Harry's half asleep in Louis' lap, watching tv as she combs her fingers through his hair. It's still short, growing back slowly but surely. Most kids cut their own hair... of course his kids would cut his hair. Rude. 

"You know what would be so nice right now baby?" Louis asks quietly, her seductive voice. 

Harry's known her long enough to know that this voice is only used to get him to do something that is rarely ever a sex thing. Just like every other time, Harry falls for it anyway. 

"Hmm?" 

It's late. They got home from Niall and Zayn's a few hours ago, right around the girls shower time. Both of them are probably already sleeping just like their parents should be. 

"Ice cream." Louis purrs. 

They don't have any ice cream. Righhhhhhht. 

"Do we have any?" He asks anyway. 

Mrs. Styles shifts her thighs under his head a little, sighing. "No," 

What he's getting from that is, she's willing to let him to dirty stuff to her in exchange for ice cream. What a little sleaze. 

"You should go get me some, Haz." 

He's super tired and doesn't really feel like doing anything but going to bed. But. Sex with Louis. The day he passes up sex with Louis... someone better have him checked out. 

He sighs through his nose, willing himself to wake up. He squeezes one of her thighs for motivation... so thick and warm. Mmm. Definitely motivated now. 

"What kind do you want?" He yawns. "What's open that sells ice cream this late?" 

Louis bites her lip to suppress her victorious smile. Whatever. He gets to poke her insides again today when he gets back, he's the real winner here. 

"McDonald's." 

Harry nods. Maybe he'll get himself some fries and actually be able to eat them by himself. That's kind of hard when the girls are awake. "Anything else?" He offers, grabbing his keys from the table. 

Louis shakes her head, smiling softly at him. The nice look either means she'll be asleep when he gets back and it'll be a wasted trip, or she'll text him something else to get as he's leaving. 

On his way towards the door, Louis' phone rings. Harry may or may not take his time sliding his shoes on so he can eavesdrop. Not that he doesn't trust her, he's just nosey. 

"Hey Lots, what's going on?" He hears her say. 

Oh. Just Lottie. Harry's still pretty upset with her. 

"Right now right now?" Louis' voice is a little squeakier this time. More pitchy. 

"Okay, okay, calm down. Where's Mom?" Louis continues. 

Lottie is either in labor or needs a ride home from somewhere. Harry isn't sure this time, because usually she does call him for rides but she knows he's got to be cross with her, so. He waits by the door for a few more seconds until he hears his wife say she's on her way. 

"Are you still here babe?" She calls, somewhat quietly. There are sleeping children in this house.. 

"Yeah." Harry's so tired, and now he's horny and tired and disappointed because obviously he's not going to be having sex tonight. 

"Lottie thinks her water broke and she's bleeding when she wipes." Louis informs Harry, who scrunches his nose at the unwanted info. Gross. 

When Louis bled while she was pregnant, hell when she bleeds period (no pun intended) Harry is like, a vagina doctor or whatever. He's fine with it. But hearing about other women... it's yucky. 

"So I'm gonna take her in." She sighs, throwing snacks from the cabinet into her purse. 

"You're gonna be there all night probably," he'll be sad sleeping alone, but he understands. 

Louis however, pouts and shuffles her way over to her man. When they're close enough she wraps her arms around his neck, burying her face in it. "If she doesn't have this baby tonight I'll probably kill her." She sighs. 

Harry nods because he totally understands. He doesn't agree, but he knows his babes logic. "I'll call you in the morning if you're not home yet," which, he knows from experience that pregnant women are never in the hospital less than eight hours. "I'll get the girls to school tomorrow either way." 

Louis sighs again, breath hitting his neck in a way that reminds him he's not getting laid. For someone who's sister is potentially in labor, Louis really isn't in a rush. Harry isn't at all complaining, it's win win for him. Snuggles with his girl, and a little karma for Lottie. You know, for being a whore and sleeping with his sister's husband. 

"Love you a lot." She's clingy and soft tonight. Figures. 

"Love you a lot more." And that's just facts.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omfg sorry it took so long shit goes down and I was getting overwhelmed writing it lol hope it was worth the wait :) xoxo

Harry pouts at his oldest child, even Aubree is side eyeing her dad at her big sisters odd behavior. 

"Honey," he tries again. "Please. She'll be there to pick you up from school." 

Serenity sobs harder. Her mom wasn't here when she woke up and she is not having any of it. "No! I don't want to go to school!" She screams, wiping under her nose with the back of her hand. 

"I want to go to school." Aubree shrugs. She misses mommy too, but at least her daddy's here. And he's taking her to school, she loves when daddy takes her to school! 

"I can't!" Serenity's little face is all red and sad, Harry feels so helpless. "I'm so obsessed!" 

He looks down to hide his giggle. She definitely means upset. 

"Would it make you feel better if we called her?" Harry suggests. 

He's been at this for a good forty five minutes now. As soon as Serenity came out of the bathroom and noticed her mom wasn't in the kitchen, well. It's been all downhill from there. Aubree on the other hand got herself dressed and put her own hair band thingy in, she's good and ready to go. 

Poor Serenity is a snotty faced mess. Hair crazy as ever, only in her sleep shirt and underwear. There's literally boogers on her cheek and if she were anybody else's kid he would not find that sad, he'd actually probably find it a little bit gross. 

"Yes." Poor baby girl calms down a little then, picking her nose as she holds the phone to her face with the opposite hand. 

"Hey babe." Louis answers, all tired sounding. 

"Hi mommy it's Ren." Her lip quivers. 

"I think Renity is being a crybaby today," Aubree whispers to her dad, eyebrows furrowed. 

"Hi baby, good morning." Louis' voice immediately perks up. Harry doesn't doubt that she can already tell the kid is sad. 

"Good morning mom but it's not good morning-" her voice turns squeaky, cracking. "For me!" She sobs again. 

Harry frowns harder, rubbing her leg in an attempt to sooth her. Calm her down maybe. Nothing else is working, and boy, does Harry miss drinking right now. 

"What's wrong honey?" The mother coos. "Do you want Daddy to bring you here, and you can spend the day with me and Aunt Lottie?" She whispers. 

Serenity nods, passing the phone to her dad before running off. 

"Is hers feeling better? I'm going to be late for school!" Aubree pouts, literally throwing her cereal bowl in the sink. They use plastic shit for a reason. 

"She woke up like that." Is the first thing Harry says to his wife. 

Well, they talked before he woke the girls up. Louis is staying with Lottie, who is slowly dilating but not much. Louis couldn't get any sleep last night, which means Harry barely got any. She wanted to stay on the phone, which was cool but she kept saying she missed him and yeah. It was cute though, but Harry's got a long day ahead of him now. 

"She's probably still tired," Louis tries to make her husband feel better, but they both know that's not true. She wants Louis. "Take Aubree to school then bring me Ren, but don't tell Aubree Ren isn't going."   
Aubree is standing by the door with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently at her dad. She hates being late! She has her backpack and coat and she is ready to learn. 

"Don't think she'd actually care, babe." Harry raises an eyebrow at blonde baby. 

"Mhm. She would. She's rushing you isn't she? But if she finds out Ren gets to skip with me she'll get jealous." Louis has been through this before. Serenity got to leave at lunch for a doctor's appointment and Aubree tore Louis a new one when she got in the car. 

"Pack Serenity's backpack with coloring books and some toys. And babe, can you bring me different clothes? I need food," 

Yeah yeah. Tired as he is, Harry wouldn't actually say no.

*

"What's his name gonna be, Momma?" Louis asks her sister with watery eyes. She can't believe she's an aunt! 

Well, she's been an aunt because of Zaidan but this is different. She's still excited even if the kid is Nick Grimshaw's. 

"He needs a strong name." Their mother nods, rocking the baby boy in her arms. Her first grandson! 

"Name it Larry or something." Lottie grumbles, eyes closed. 

She gave birth four hours ago and has held her baby all of twenty minutes. Not because people are hogging him either- if no one else holds him she tells them to put him in the bed. It's strange how unattached she is from her own baby. 

"Larry sounds like Louis and Harry." Serenity tells her mom and Aunt and Grandma. 

"Yeah, and it's ugly." Louis scrunches her nose. 

"You can name him Zack, Lottie. That's a nice name." Serenity tries again. 

Johannah's smile doesn't falter one bit at Lottie's disinterest. "How about Jack?" 

Oh god. It seems naming this baby is going to be up to Louis, then. "Give the poor guy a chance, mom." 

Lottie tosses her phone on the bedside table and rolls to her side. "I'm tired. Can you guys leave?" She pulls the blankets over her head. 

"Do you want some alone time with the baby?" Louis rubs her little sisters leg. She understands this can be an overwhelming time, and she thinks one of the two possible fathers is harassing Lottie, because the poor girls phone hasn't stopped all day. She mostly ignores it, and Louis doesn't ask questions. 

"Take him too." She mumbles. 

Wow. They are so alike, yet so different. Louis was beyond excited to have her first baby. If someone tried to take Serenity out of the room... Louis made Harry go with her and report everything back to her. This is just sad. 

*

Johannah offers to stay with the baby so Louis can take Serenity home and relax for a little while. In the car, she gets a phone call from a familiar unknown number, and she answers it. 

*

Louis is out of it when she gets home, Harry just assumes she's tired. Couldn't have got much sleep at the hospital, especially since she's had Serenity all day long. 

However, Aubree really enjoyed her alone time with daddy. She put his bangs in butterfly clips while he sulked about the length it used to be, and then she put her "totally cute" peach flavored lip gloss on him. After that they had a tea party where she was the Queen and somehow Harry was her horse but he was still allowed to eat dinner with her so it was fine by him. 

They kiss in lieu of hello, Louis and Harry. She squints and licks her lips, kissing him again more curiously. 

"Peach." Harry informs his wife. 

She nods, giving him an odd look. "Ah," if she hadn't gotten that phone call, she'd probably be a little more suspicious about the lip gloss. 

"I'm gonna-" she clears her throat, looking away. "I'm gonna go see Aubree, then can I talk to you? In private." 

Immediately, Harry assumes the worst. "Is it the baby? Is Lottie okay?" 

"Yeah," she nods. She didn't think about how that'd come off. Whoops. It's actually a little... worse, maybe, what she's got to tell him. "Yeah. Mom and baby are fine. It's a boy, no name for him yet." 

"Are- are we okay?" 

She won't really look at him, and that's worrying enough. So, she hugs him, sighing into his shoulder. She hopes they'll be okay. 

"Mhm. Love you." 

*

After Aubree has filled Louis in on every single detail of her day including every single thing she pointed out in a game of eye spy during free time, Lou is finds Harry in their bedroom, mug of tea in hand and another on Louis' table. What a doll. She closes their door, leaning against it as she just stares at him. 

"I have to tell you something, and I'm scared you're going to get mad at me." She says, voice quiet. 

Harry, calm as ever, just nods and pats her side of the bed, silently telling her to come sit. She can't move though, because then he'll notice how bad she's shaking. And- she has to block the door, so he can't leave until he's not mad at her anymore. However long that's going to take. 

"Whatever it is," he shrugs. 

He's so calm... oh god. He's not ready for it. 

"I love you, and there's nothing you can do to change that." 

She really, really does not deserve him sometimes. 

"I just want you to know," Louis' voice trembles. She's not upset, just nervous. It's not often that she fucks up and well. This time she did. It's new territory for her. "That I wasn't going to tell you this, ever, because it's not important." 

She downplays it as much as possible, though she isn't lying. It's not serious or important. 

"But it's something I would rather you hear from me instead of..." Nick Grimshaw, perhaps. "Someone else." 

He's so much more patient than she'd be. He's even smiling a little at her and shit, that's probably worse because he really, really isn't going to expect what's coming now. 

"Okay." Harry nods again, full attention on her. 

"In high school... I um." She swallows. Should she tell him the full story, from the beginning? Probably, yeah. Honesty is best and shit, right? 

Plus, it won't make her look so bad when she tells him about them meeting up a few years ago. 

"You what? You cheated on me, or something?" He guesses. 

Louis is appalled, because no. Never. Harry was the cheater. "No! God no! I only ever cheated on Stan and if I- /fooled around/, with anyone after you and I started whatever we were doing, it was when we were broken up and that's not cheating Harry." 

She decides that she's going to tell him the full truth, except for the part where she remembers not being sure if she was pregnant by him or Nick when she was in high school. Because... that's pointless. Serenity is Harry's twin and regardless of who's sperm made her (Harry's. Louis cannot stress that enough.) she is Harry's child. Harry doesn't need those kind of doubts about his daughter. 

"Okay, then what? You're freaking me out a little, baby." He confesses, scooting to sit on the edge of the bed. 

"Before you, way before you," she tweaks the truth only because of the timing of her getting knocked up will seem suspicious. "I dated this older guy, who's a total creep and his name happens to be Nick Grimshaw and-" 

"Wait, Nick Nick? You dated my sister's husband in high school? He didn't even go to school with us, he's way older-" 

"Don't judge high school me, okay Harry. High school me picked you, didn't I?" Like that's got anything to do with the big huge lie she failed to tell him about for literal years. 

"Does nobody care about my sister?" Harry slams his mug down and stands up. "You dated him in high school, Lottie's having his kids, meanwhile my poor, unsuspecting sister is sitting at home, clueless! That's fucked up, Louis!" He spits, finger pointed at her face and God, he's such a dad. She's ashamed and turned on and ashamed that she's turned on. 

"Lottie has nothing to do with me! He didn't meet anybody I know except for Zayn when we date-" 

"Great! Even Zayn knew, which means Niall knows too, and fuck me, right? Because nobody thought to tell me." 

She knew he wasn't ready for this. She has to admit though, she didn't predict him getting angry. Sad and a little upset, yeah. But not angry. His face is proper red. 

"I'm trying to tell you now, you dip shit!" She defends. 

At least if they're both yelling they can have hot, angry sex. They're good at that. 

"Go on, fill me in then." He's staring right at her face, so intense she has to look away. She really, really in not used to being the wrong one here. 

"I dated him, and when I fell in love with you I never talked to him again, I swear. I cut him off," 

Harry's face softens for a second, turning right back to stone when Louis says: 

"Until like, a year before we got married. I wasn't sure, Harry! Shit, I mean, of course I was sure. I've always been sure about you!" She damn near pleads for him to remember that. "I just, I was scared I guess? I wanted to make sure that I was ready to be a wife, which is dumb because we've basically been married since we started living together," 

She learned that, literally nothing except the name on her junk mail changed after marrying Harry. Oh and the name on her license, which she was obsessed with. She also liked having the big rings, until she lost them. But when she found them again... 

"What did you do? Don't try to- sugar coat it!" He barks. 

"I went on a date with him!" She squeaks. "And he kissed me, and I freaked out and I blocked him!" 

"You kissed? On the mouth?" Harry is furious! 

"No!" Louis squeaks again, scared. "I mean, yes! But he kissed me, and I pushed him away!" 

"After all you just put me through," Harry's eyes are hella dilated, all angry and scary. "Accusing me of cheating on you, you have the nerve to stand there, and tell me I was at home with our kids, while /you/ cheated on /me/?" 

It wasn't cheating! She means to say. Dumbly, instead she says: "No! I took them with me," and regrets it the second it comes out. 

His nostrils flair, fists clenched. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was about to hit her. She'd definitely hit him. 

"Harry, baby, please it wasn't-"

"Move." He demands, voice deep. 

She stands her ground, despite how scared she is. "No," she shake her head. "I don't want you to be mad at me." 

"Fuck you, Louis!" He screams, spit flying. 

Louis doesn't realize she's crying until she lets out an involuntary sob. Usually in their fights, she's been known to fake cry so she can win faster. "I'm sorry! It was a long time ago." 

"I thought we were happy?" Her tears have no affect on him, according to his angry eyebrows. 

That's a thing, Louis knows the difference. It's really not that weird. Anyways. 

"I am! We were," 

"Bull shit!" He screams again. 

Louis jumps and squeaks, back against the door. She's not scared of him hitting her or yelling at her, she's scared he won't trust her. What if he wants to leave her? It's unlikely but it could happen. 

"It was a long time ago-" 

"Why now?" Harry's pissed, beyond angry. Louis doesn't recall ever seeing him so mad... "Why are you telling me this shit now?" 

With a shaky breath Louis sighs. She feels... like shit, honestly. Like a bad person. "Because Lottie just had Nick's baby, and he's freaking out." She shrugs, lip quivering. "And he said if Gemma finds out he'll tell you everything." 

Harry sits back on the bed, running his hands over his face. He just looks at her for a few seconds, visibly calming down. "Does this mean we can tell Gemma?" 

***

"What is that?" Elijah asks, leaning over the counter as Zayn chops potatoes. 

"These?" She holds up a chunk. "It's-" 

"It's potato, Lysha." Zaidan informs, copying the older boys stance. 

"No, that." He points the bowl of- wait for it- marinating steaks! 

"Oh, more steak." She answers. That's all her husband cooks on his grill unless he's having more than four people over, then it's hamburgers and hot dogs. 

"Is that for dinner?" Elijah asks again. 

He's a very sweet boy, he asks a lot of questions but he's not annoying about it. He's just a curious little guy. 

"Mhm. Do you like steak?" He ate it everything Zayn put on his plate yesterday but he always does. He never complains. 

"Yeah it's good." He nods. "Didn't we just eat that yesterday?" 

"Yeah," Zayn laughs, putting the potatoes in the pot to boil. "Niall likes steak." 

"I don't like it." Zaidan shakes his head. 

"I know bud, I'm gonna make you a pizza." Yesterday he had chicken nuggets. Maybe if she could cut the steak into dinosaur shapes he'd like it. 

Niall comes in from the lighting the grill to grab the steaks, tickling Zaidan on his way. He's getting better at acknowledging Elijah, but it's only been a day. 

"Ask your dad if he will ever cook you something else." Zayn teases, putting her cheek out to be kissed by her man.

"You make me some-thing else dad?" Zaidan asks. 

Niall makes a face, sucking his lips in and popping them back out. "Nope." With that being said, he takes the steaks and kisses his boys forehead on his way out, his other hand hesitantly ruffling Elijah's hair. 

It's so sweet that Zayn has to coo at it. 

*

"Babe," Niall's eyebrows are scrunched in confusion when comes in their bathroom while Zayn's taking a bath. 

He's topless, and his pajama bottoms are pretty low on his waist. Hmm. Zayn just might have to make room in this tub... 

"I got an e-mail from that DNA center," he scratches his head, sitting on the side of the tub. 

"Why wouldn't they call?" Zayn doesn't understand any of this. She wishes she could just ask her dad, but she'd rather not tell him any of this until she knows their plan. Niall agreed. 

"I dunno." He shrugs. "But look," Niall hands her the phone and she reads the email. 

Which, is confusing itself. It says there's a fifty one percent change Niall is the father. "So, when we sent in the test we knew there was a fifty percent chance," as in he isn't or he is, obviously. "And when we get it back it says fifty one." 

They blink at each other before they both start laughing. It isn't funny, but it's so fucking ridiculous and they don't know what else to do. 

"Yeah, there's fifty bucks in the trash." 

Zayn nods, handing him back his phone. "I can ask my dad if-" 

"Nope." Niall shakes his head. He doesn't even want his parents involved, let alone her dad. Yaser definitely doesn't need to know about this unless the kid is Niall's. 

"He could help, baby," 

Niall nods. Yaser could help, but there's a price that comes with that. Niall's worked hard to get away from shitty jobs and ass beatings that come with fuck ups whilst working for Yaser. He's not sure what he'd get in this situation and he isn't ready to find out. 

"I don't want him, Zayn." He confesses, voice quiet. "I have this bond with Zaidan, you know? Since he was born, whenever he sees me he smiles and it makes my heart-" he blows out a frustrated breath of air, but Zayn wants to hear this so she rubs his back, soothing. 

"I love that kid so much. And, I think that's because of you, as dumb as it sounds. If I didn't love you, I know I wouldn't of wanted him and that sounds bad but," he shrugs. "Somethings weird about that other kid. Elijah." 

Zayn continues rubbing his back so he knows she's listening and not judging or mad. She's proud that he's finally expressing how he feels about everything. 

"He's what, four, almost five? And the first time I hear about him is the other day? I don't remember his mom, Zayn. I don't." He sounds angry, frustrated even. "I know you don't want to hear this, but I remembered faces Zayn, faces and names. When we looked up her Facebook, that was the first time I've ever seen that face." 

He's sure of himself, and he knows it but. 

"Honey, you drank a lot in college," 

Niall shakes his head. "I might not remember what happened but I remember faces. I don't know that woman." 

Zayn nods, suddenly feeling... like they're in a movie or something. She feels scared, and weirded out. Elijah is a good kid but he doesn't belong here. Can they get in trouble for kidnapping? 

"We'll figure something out." She assures him. 

***

Niall's frustrated, but his wife and kid and- whatever Elijah is, are in the car. So he's quiet. He won't hold Zayn's hand in fear of breaking it he's so frustrated, but it is reassuring that she's got her hand on his leg anyway. 

When they get to his mother's house- the last place he wants to be right now, he shuts off the truck and just sits there for a minute. 

On their way home from yet another fifty one percent test, Maura called and told Niall she wants them to come by for lunch. He told her no, to which she proceeded to guilt him with "I miss you" and "Zaidan is so big every time I see him he's a different person"- which is false because they see his parents more than five times a month. So here they are. 

"Do you want me to take them in?" Zayn whispers. 

Zaidan is sleeping, Elijah is looking a little sleepy from the drive. 

Niall looks at her, soft and exhausted. Poor baby. "I'll get Zaidan." 

"Do you want to just tell them he's my cousin?" She refers to Elijah. 

To her surprise he shakes his head no. "If we're gonna keep him this is less of a surprise." 

Maura and Bobby's reactions weren't really what either of the parents expected. They just kind of sat there, quiet. Maura was the first to say something. 

"I think," she says carefully, eyeing the boy from the kitchen table as he sits on the sofa watching cartoons. "Your brother should see this." 

Niall rolls his eyes. "Yeah, he will. He's always around, isn't he?" 

"What your mother means, is that your brother should this." Bobby repeats, face filled with worry. He knows his boys temper. "Right now."


	21. Chapter 21

Greg gets home, coming through the door with his usual cheerful smile, only faltering a touch when he sees Elijah on the couch. 

"That's not Zaidan," he says in the direction of all the adults at the kitchen table. "Hey buddy," Greg's so busy taking off his coat and shoes that he must miss everybody staring at him. 

"Hello." Elijah greets back, shy. He's been meeting a lot of new people in such a short amount of time. 

Zayn's heart breaks for the little guy. She wants to cry every time she looks at his little face. 

When Greg finally does look at Elijah's face, actually gets a good look, he freezes, glancing between his mother and Niall. 

What the fuck? 

"Um." Greg backs away slowly, like the little boy is a tiger or something. He looks ridiculous. "Friend of yours, Zayn?" 

Oh sure, blame it on Zayn. Zayn snorts, shrugging. "Something like that," she answers vaguely. 

"Is um," Greg looks around nervously, whispering. "Is Jesy here?" 

"No." Elijah shakes his head, sighing. "She's in heaven." 

"Oh my god!" Greg gasps, hand covering his mouth. 

Niall looks at Zayn, both of them completely confused. All Zayn knows is, she's probably not going to even try to hold Niall back this time. She's always defending Greg and Greg is always proving it to be a wasted effort. 

"She died?" Greg looks at his family, mortified. 

"Wait, wait," Niall shakes his head because what? How does Greg know who Jesy is? 

"When did she die? Oh my god," Greg actually has tears in his eyes right now. To someone who doesn't know Greg it could seem like he was close with Jesy or something, but if you know Greg, well. Greg's an emotional guy. 

On the other hand, he did say her name without hearing it first. 

"Greg, how do you know who Jesy is?" Niall asks his older brother. 

"Oh my god, man!" Greg ignores his brother, pacing around and staring at Elijah. 

Zayn has the sudden urge to protect the boy. Greg's a nice guy but he doesn't have a filter, Elijah doesn't need to hear this. 

"Greg!" Niall snaps. 

Greg continues to ignore him, tears rolling down his cheeks as he pulls at his own hair, shaking his head. "No, man no! When did she die?" 

Zayn gets up and walks over to Elijah, taking his hand and leading him to his grandparents room where Zaidan is sleeping. He doesn't need to hear this. 

"How do you know her, Greg?" Niall repeats. 

"I-I," Greg stutters, collapsing back on the sofa. 

Zayn returns, staying off to the side but somewhat in front of Niall just in case. 

"I used to date her." Greg confesses. 

"Did I meet her?" Is Niall's next question. 

Greg shakes his head no and oh god, whatever progress Zayn was making with Niall tolerating his brother is crumbling before her eyes. She can literally see it. 

"Greg." Niall says, voice patient as he walks towards the couch and sits on the opposite end, facing his brother. "A few days ago that little boy was dropped off at Harry's house with nothing but a backpack, and in that backpack he had a birth certificate with my name as the father," 

Zayn has a feeling she knows what's coming next. Maura and Bobby must too, because Bobby comes to stand by Zayn and Maura's got her face in her hands. 

"It's not you." Greg shakes his head, face expressionless and wet from tears. "I'm his dad." 

If that's true, maybe that explains why Niall's tests were coming back fifty one percent. Because he's his uncle. Zayn'll have to find a way to ask her dad about that. 

"Do you know why Jesy put my name on his birth certificate?" Niall asks, surprisingly calm despite how anxious he is. He's finally getting answers after days of feeling like he's fucking crazy. 

Greg huffs, face similar to a bratty child's. "She thought my name was Niall." 

"Why did she think that?" 

The older brother shrugs, wiping his face with his hands. "I was wearing your football jersey when I met her." 

This is so odd, Zayn thinks. She's definitely picking up on that vibe now that Niall is always saying his brother gives off. A creepy, uncomfortable one. She always thought he was talking shit when he said his brother was obsessed with him. Hmm. 

(Also, if he's talking about the high school jersey, Zayn so remembers that. She still has pictures somewhere on her laptop of her and Louis drunk as hell, rocking their guys' shirts. Zayn was super drunk and hella geeked, even though the only reason he gave it to her that night was because he was taking Eleanor home with him instead of her like they had planned. It didn't matter though, because she had his sweaty jersey and somehow that evened things out. Ah, to be young and dumb as fuck again.) 

"My... my high school jersey?" Niall is so weirded out right now, and rightfully so. "Okay... so you met her like five years ago," Niall nods to himself, putting together the pieces. 

"She thought my name was Niall, and she was hot so I kind of went with it." Greg shrugs. "Besides, how do I explain why I'm wearing my little brothers jersey without sounding like a weirdo?" 

Um. Niall's eyes find Zayn's, telepathically sending each other /what the fuck/ signals. Soul mates shit. 

Okaaaaay, so literally anybody who heard the full story would give him the same /what the fuck/ look Zayn did, but it's cuter the first way. She loves him. 

"Weren't you..." Zayn trails lightly here, because this subject turns Greg into a loose cannon. "Weren't you, you know, married? Five years ago," 

"Yes I was, /Zayn/." Greg says, voice and face childishly sarcastic. "Thanks so much for that fan-fucking-tastic reminder." 

She's a little taken aback by his reaction, though she knew to expect it it's still a shock. Greg is always so nice to her, because she's always been nice to him. 

"Greg," Niall sighs, massaging his temples. "I'm trying to be calm with you in my mother house, but if you disrespect her like that again I'm gonna pull your fucking card." 

Maura sobs at the dining room table, running to the kitchen. Zayn feels for her. She hopes Zaidan and his future siblings don't have anything resembling the relationship his father and uncle have. 

"Sorry." Greg mutters in Zayn's direction. "That's another reason I never corrected her. I was still with Denise, she had just had Theo." 

Theo. Zayn has met Theo a handful of times because (wisely, probably) Denise gives Greg limited visitations. 

"How long did you know about Elijah?" /How long did you pretend to be me?/ Niall wonders. 

"From the beginning, I guess." Greg shrugs again, sniffling. "When Eli turned two she told me I- I complicate things for her. She wanted to raise him by herself." 

Greg must mistake Niall's silence for sympathy, because he carries on with his son story. "I'd check in from time to time, but she kept moving, changing her number. She got harder to-" 

Niall punches his brother in the side of his head. He pulls his arm back to swing again, only this time Greg is saved by a sleepy Zaidan, rubbing his eyes and calling "Daddy?". 

Bobby's on it immediately. He's a little slower than Zayn, and if she were anyone else she'd probably push him out of the way to get to her baby. But she lets him have his grandpa moment, picking him up to check on him. 

"Hi Pa-Pop," he mumbles, looking behind him for his mommy or daddy. "Daddy," his voice gets whinier when he finds one of his parents. "Elisha is crying."

This one, Zayn's got. 

**

Zayn follows Zaidan to the living room, lotion in hand, both dressed in bathrobes and slippers, only Zayn's got a towel on her hair. 

"Aunt Louis!" The boy cheers, ripping off his little robe. 

Zayn shakes her head, taking a seat next to her husband on the sofa. "Come here, Zai." 

"That's your baby?" The naked boy rests his hand on Louis' knee, blinking at the baby in her arms with great curiosity. 

"No Bud, this is aunt Lottie's baby," Louis shifts the week old baby for her oldest nephew to see. 

"Come here please, Zaidan." Zayn says again, tired sounding. She looks a bit pale as well. 

Zaidan walks to her backwards, eyes on the baby as he goes. He stays mostly still long enough for his mom to lotion him, insisting he can his own lotion on his face, which results in him wiping it on Niall and laughing. 

"How long you had him?" Niall asks, looking just as tired as his wife. 

What even goes on in this household? Louis has slept in their bed before, and all she knows is if her bed was that comfortable she'd find a way to manage to get her eight hours every night, at least. 

"Today's three days," Louis rolls her eyes. "But we're telling Gemma later, me and Harry. Dunno if Lottie will wanna be there or not," 

"Probably not." Zayn mumbles, holding Zaidan's underwear for him to step in. 

"I miss when mine were this small." Louis smiles at her baby nephew.

He's definitely fueling her baby fever fire, which Harry is loving. He's such a good baby too, only wakes up twice a night for a feeding and doesn't need to be held to sleep like Aubree did. 

Zayn sighs, frustrated when Zaidan walks away from her, somehow still naked. "Can you come here, please?" 

"Why?" Zaidan shrugs, wet curls sticking to his face. 

"So I can put your clothes on." 

"I don't need clothes on, Mama!" Zaidan whines. 

See, /those/ are the days Louis does not miss. Admittedly, Zaidan is much more well behaved than her monsters were. 

"Yes you do. Your aunt and cousin don't want to see your penis." 

Zayn's clearly frustrated, so instead of encouraging his naughty behavior like she normally would, instead Louis wrinkles her nose. "Ewwwww." 

Zaidan shrugs again, smiling his evil smile- the one he gets when he knows he's being cheeky. "They can see my penis." 

Niall and Louis snort, Zayn however doesn't find him amusing. "You're such a little creep, come here." 

Zaidan smiles at Louis, leisurely making his way to his mom yet again. "I not creep I Zaidan." 

"Yeah." Zayn makes quick work of putting his underwear on this time, doing more of the work. "Keep these on and do not pee in them, please." 

"Where's Eli?" Louis asks the couple. 

Zaidan is the one to respond. "He's a Nanna's!" 

Zayn nods, agreeing with her son. "He's staying with Greg for day or two." She rolls her eyes. "I gotta call him later." 

When she goes to stand, her hand flies to her stomach and she almost falls over. Louis isn't all the surprised that Niall just watches her, doesn't even sit up. 

"Ya alright, babe?" Is all he asks. 

She nods, eyes closed and face pained. "Just cramping a little."

"Zee, you should rest," the reason why doesn't need to be said aloud. They're probably all thinking it anyway, if Zayn's even told Niall yet, which she probably hasn't. That would explain his lack of concern, actually. 

Zayn shakes her head at her best friends advice. "I'm fine. I'm just gonna go put some clothes on and I'll be back down to visit." She manages a weak, tired smile that has Louis silent.

"She been feeling sick lately?" Louis questions quietly, once Zayn is out of hearing range and Zaidan is distracted by his show. 

Niall nods, licking his teeth as he lifts Zaidan to lay on his lap, covering him with a blanket from the back of the sofa. It's around the kiddos naptime, surely his parents could use one too. 

"Oh yeah." Niall confirms. "Thinks she's hiding it though." He rolls his tired blue eyes. "She isn't telling me anything, so I'm acting like I don't know." He shrugs. 

Whether he's telling Louis this because he knows she'll keep his secret or because she won't say it to Zayn to protect her feelings is beyond Louis. He's right though, because she won't tell. For both reasons. 

Louis sighs, staring down at the newborn baby in her arms. Maybe she should just give Zayn this one, since Lottie doesn't want him. (Louis will admit between her and Harry she is definitely the abusive one in the relationship, but Harry would definitely smack her face if he heard her say some shit like that.) 

"Think it's happening again, Nialler." She says instead. 

The blonde haired dad nods, holding his sons hand when the little guy reaches for it. "Yeah." 

*

"Oh my goodness, you are so precious." Zayn coos to the baby for the billionth time. 

Zayn asked Louis to come upstairs and- as if Louis would miss an opportunity to get in this bed again. Even if Niall is laying across the end like a dog. 

"I want one of these so bad." She juts her bottom lip out. On her lap, baby Myles just his lips, wide eyed. He's probably getting hungry... 

"Don't you want one?" Zayn pouts to her husband, rubbing the baby's soft hairs. 

Niall smiles, soft and tired. He's been laying on his back, arms folded behind his head watching her the entire time. "We'll have one." 

"You guys are cute." Louis mumbles, bitter. Harry's never cute with her anymore. "I gotta go get the girls soon," 

Niall nods at her questioning look, quickly glancing to Zayn to make sure she didn't see it. Zayn wouldn't care at all, but Louis actually came over because she needed money. And to visit, but she's kind of out of a job now, thanks to Lottie. They'd rather keep this between them, because just because Zayn doesn't care doesn't mean Harry won't. Manly pride and what not. 

She's more shocked than she should be when she opens her purse after buckling her and Myles in her car and sees literal stacks of money. What is their life, that they have this laying around? Bless the Horan's, is all Louis can say. 

***

Louis has to bribe her kids with chocolate and happy meals /and/ getting to eat and watch movies in mom and dad's room for them to promise not to interrupt grown up time. For some reason, they fucking love Gemma. Not the kind of love they have for Louis' sisters or Zayn and Niall where they're happy but don't really care either way that they're there. No, they go fucking nuts for Gemma and literally cry when she leaves. It's fucking crazy. 

"Why does this suddenly seem so serious? Is one of you dying?" Gemma raises an eyebrow, gulping down her water. 

They invited her over for dinner, and everything was all normal until both Louis and Harry told the girls to go in their room. The baby is also in there, which Gemma does not know. 

"Not yet." Louis smiles casually, picking toys up off the floor and tossing them in the toy box. 

"Gem," Harry starts, nervous. "You know Louis' sister had a baby?" 

Gemma nods, soft smile on her lips. "How is she? She had a boy, right? I was stalking Facebook for pictures after you put you were on your way to the hospital," she tells Louis. 

That's nice. Gemma hasn't always been fond of Louis but they're getting there. Or, were getting there. Lottie probably ruined that. 

"Yeah, his names Myles." Is all Louis supplies. Harry's the one that wanted to tell Gemma, so Louis is going to let him do just that. By himself. 

"Gemma, Nick's been cheating on you and he's the father of Lottie's baby." Harry blurts, eyes big like even he can't believe he said it. 

Gemma- doesn't look sad, or even mad. She looks... completely neutral. 

"I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised." She says after a while. 

For such a scrappy, normally defensive woman, that's a rather pathetic reaction. 

"I'm so sorry for Lottie, though. Truly." Gemma, for some odd reason apologizes to Louis. Well, she says it to Louis. 

"We have the baby, Lottie doesn't want him." Harry adds, and whoa. 

"Lottie never said she didn't want the baby, she just can't deal with him right now. She's depressed and mom thinks she's going to off herself," Louis defends her sister.

She thinks it's smart of Charlotte to not want to be around the baby when she's feeling this way. He's a little guy, that could be dangerous. Most women, including Louis herself, try to just take care of the baby anyway so people don't like, talk shit or whatever. 

"The baby's here?" Gemma raises an eyebrow. She does not at all seem like she's one bit upset about the information she's just received. 

Harry nods at his sister. 

Gemma shrugs, picking at her jeans. "Can I see him?" 

Louis goes to get him, cautiously handing him over to Gemma. Only then, after she's physically touching and seeing him with her own eyes does she begin to cry. Louis truly sympathizes with her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to be a filthy Christmas present with lots of dirty action but life. I hope you all had a better Christmas than I did. Xoxoxoxox

Louis gets an automated phone call from the girls school stating that there was a suspicious vehicle riding past during recess, and for all parents to discuss safety procedures with their children if they walk home. That kind of shit right there is exactly why Louis waits with them until it's time to go in and comes to get them when it's time to leave. 

She gives them the talk anyway, and apparently they really needed it. 

"You guys know not to get in cars with strangers right?" She asks her girls after dinner, Harry sitting next to her feeding Myles. 

"Sometimes people you don't know will say me or daddy sent them to try to get you in the car with them so they can take you away," she tries to explain so that it sounds scary enough for them to listen but she also doesn't want to be too like, inappropriate because hello. They're little still. 

"Why would you send somebody we don't know to pick us up?" Serenity scrunches her nose, confused. 

"And how come you want them to take us away!" Aubree demands with a pout. 

"No, I wouldn't send somebody you don't know to take you away, that's my point." The mom shakes her head. "And sometimes people will try to give you candy, but you don't take it okay?" 

The girls are quiet for a minute, not lost in thought but briefly distracted by the television. 

"What kind of candy, mom?" Aubree asks after a minute. 

Louis looks at her husband, frustrated. Though, Harry seems to find this amusing. There is nothing amusing about their kids giving themselves away for candy. 

"Like a Kit Kat bar?" Serenity adds, fueling Louis' worry and frustration. 

"Like any kind of candy! You don't take it if you don't know who they are. Got it?" 

Both kids nod, but they aren't done yet. 

"And um, if someone um, tries to give us some um," Aubree stutters the way she always does when she's hyped up. "Give us some candy, we won't take it mom but we can just um tell you, and then you can get us the candy!" She cheers. 

"Never misses an opportunity for candy." Harry shakes his head. 

"Hey mister!" Aubree gets all up in daddy's grill, careful of the baby on his lap. "Candy is so good for me." 

Oh god. They are never leaving Louis' sight again. 

"Yeah, so is your purity." Harry spits, more serious now. 

"My what?" Aubree is confused. 

Enough of that, now. "Go play." Louis tells the both of them. "It's almost time to shower and lay down. Go play." 

*

When Louis gets out of the shower wearing a towel in her hair and another wrapped around her body, she goes straight to their bedroom. Ignoring Harry, which is so rude when she's wet and naked. 

Probably all prickly, cause she only shaves herself to get back at Harry. 

She lays the towel down on the chair they've had in their room for forever for due to laziness. As in, it was supposed to be taken out over a year ago. She grabs one of Harry's shirts before she sits down and begins lotioning herself, her hands moving all over her body as she watches tv. 

His hand is on autopilot when he reaches in his boxers and starts tugging at his already half hard cock. He takes out, balls resting on the elastic waistband. She doesn't notice him until he moans when she gets to her breasts. 

The look she gives him proves what Harry already kind of knew, which was that she's not teasing him in purpose. It would probably be a little different if it was planned. 

"I thought you were sleeping," she wipes her hand on the towel beneath her, gathering the shirt and bottle of lotion to walk over to the bed. 

Yesssss. 

When she's closer she glances at his hand, currently wanking his cock and snorts. "Seriously?"   
Harry just shrugs. Doesn't stop either, especially not now, since she's all close to him. Naked and smelling good. 

"Is it dry?" She asks him. 

His first thought is that she's going to put lotion on it and give him a hand job. He's wrong. Instead she climbs on the bed and hovers over his cock, darting her tongue out to lick the head before wrapping her lips around it completely, sucking lightly. 

Fuck yeah. This is the easiest he's ever gotten a blowie. He's gonna have to use this tactic more often. Except- just as fast as her mouth is on him, it's back off him. 

"Good. I don't want you putting lotion on me if there was precome on your hands." She tosses the lotion on his chest, sitting with her back facing him. She leans her arm on his stomach, getting comfortable enough to start watching the television again. 

Harry can't really reach his cock when she's on him like this, but. As much as he'd like to continue his wank, he'll never miss an opportunity to get his hands on a naked Louis, who is actually watching Futurama with a hard dick in front of her. 

"I was busy, you know." He mutters, squirting a healthy amount lotion in his palms anyway. He rubs his hands together, warming it up because he's a nice husband. A nice husband who deserves a lot of blow jobs, in his opinion. 

"If you ever whack it to me without my permission again I'll sue your ass for everything you're worth." She tells him, voice all soft and sweet. 

Hmm. Harry's possibly going to get somewhere then.

"You're the most valuable thing I got, baby." She already shares the rest of his valuables. The house, the cars, the kids. They have a joint bank account. 

"I'll be my own woman again." Her fingers draw patterns over his hip bones, and if his cock wasn't leaking before it definitely ought to be now. 

"You'll always be my woman though." Harry reminds her, lotioning the tops of her butt cheeks. His favorite part. "You don't want to be your own woman, anyway." 

Louis likes to be taken care of, likes having Harry take care of her. She could take care of herself, but why should she? When Harry could just do it. 

"You're right." Louis sighs, wrapping her hand around his prick in with a loose grip. "I wanna be Liam's woman." 

Harry actually has to snort at that. Liam wouldn't know what to do with Louis. In life or in bed. He'd get scared every time she threatened him, she'd get frustrated when he couldn't satisfy her. It'd be such a mess. 

"Which one? He's got a few." He jokes. 

She turns her head to presumably give him a dirty look, but Harry pushes her forward by her butt cheeks. He grabs her thigh, all thick and soft, and tries to lift her leg. 

"What are you doing?" His wife tuts, amused. 

He slides his fingers between her thighs, searching for her clit. "Trying to eat some pussy," he answers honestly, voice purposely deep and low. That voice always gets to Louis. 

She giggles, she fucking giggles and it's the sexiest sound Harry has ever heard in his life. 

"I'll smother you." 

She's always shy about sitting on his face, even before she got thick. Please. Harry has muscles, he works out specifically so he's strong enough to do sexy stuff to his wife. 

Harry groans, gripping her thigh harder, actually lifting her this time. See. Muscles. Louis squeaks and giggles the entire time he maneuvers her over his face. 

"Jesus!" She laughs, making herself comfortable with her hands on his hips. Harry pulls her down to his mouth roughly by her own hips. 

He wastes no time digging in, ignoring her insults for getting her messy when she just got out of the shower. She gets into it when Harry brings his hands up to her ass for a squeeze, leaning forward to get her mouth on his cock. Harry wasn't expecting that, but okay. He's not about to complain. 

He opens her up, sticking his tongue out flat and flexing it, circling her clit. When she comes, crying and whining the way she always does when she gets eaten out, she falls forward, choking herself on his prick. 

She pulls up, gasping, hips rocking frantically above his face. "Harry," she whines, nails digging in his thighs. 

"Lemme fuck you," his lips and chin are all wet. 

Louis laughs, breath puffing against his hip. "We have to be up early, Harry," she wraps her fist around his cock. 

He'd be convinced that that's a no, but he grip is loose and if she really didn't want to keep going she'd just put it in her mouth and finish him. He sees right through her. 

"You don't." He kisses the skin of her inner thighs, big hands feeling all on her butt. "I can take them before work," 

"Mmm." She moves off of him, laying next to him instead. "Come on baby." 

The words aren't even fully out of her mouth before Harry obliges. 

***

Niall comes up when Zayn's finishing smoking her little piece before bed. His face is all red and sleepy, a little grumpy even which- isn't hard to tell why, because his t-shirt and sweats are soaked on the front. 

"What's wrong baby?" She asks her man. 

Niall stomps towards their bathroom, gathering a bunch of towels. "He peed on me." He answers, pulling his shirt off in a swift motion, using only one hand. 

Stuff like that (besides being covered in urine) is why Zayn thinks he's so sexy. He's such a man. 

"He peed?" Zayn repeats. 

Niall and Zaidan both fell asleep while cuddling on the couch and they were too cute to disturb, so she didn't. She put Elijah to sleep (only after kissing all over his face and making him giggle) and went to lay down herself. She started bleeding this morning. She isn't feeling well. Of course she isn't. She's having another miscarriage, she thinks. 

Zayn follows Niall downstairs, both of them moving slow as hell due to him being tired and her being in pain. Luckily none of the urine is on the couch and it all got on Niall. This couch was expensive. 

Niall tosses the towels on the sofa beside Zaidan, who he laid on a blanket, while Zaidan tries to take off his pants and underwear without waking him up. 

"He hasn't peed in his pull ups in a while," Zaidan's mom reminds his dad. 

Niall nods, a fresh overnight pull up already in hand. "I didn't make him go potty after he had some milk," 

Zayn gets the boy naked with out waking him, gently cleaning him up with the washcloth and towels Niall brought down. 

"No towels in the bathroom down here." Niall yawns. 

They're in the basket by the couch, folded and everything. Folding them literally took all of her energy so she didn't feel like putting them up. Whatever. Niall makes money, and it's Zayn's job to take care of the house. 

"Can you carry him up?" Zayn carefully fixes Zaidan's pull up, kissing his forehead before pushing herself back up. 

"Is he sleeping with us?" 

Zayn shrugs. She doesn't care. "I don't care. He can," 

Maybe then he'll sleep in and she can sleep in. Or he'll quietly watch cartoons while she goes back to sleep. Yeah right, a mother can dream. 

Niall ends up putting Zaidan in his own bed. He comes in and lays behind Zayn, reaching his arm across their pillows to massage her scalp with his fingertips. They fall asleep like that, probably not even minutes later.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me with these somewhat speedy updates!!!! I'm on a roll here lol

"Are you seriously telling him to pretend he's sick?" Zayn sighs at her husband over the phone. 

Across from her, Louis snorts into her margarita. 

/"No."/ Niall lies. /"He told me he was going to puke."/ he lies some more. If Zai was really sick, Niall wouldn't of made him call his mom. He would call himself or usually he texts Zai's symptoms. 

"He didn't even know what was wrong with him Niall." Zayn rolls her eyes at Louis.

/"Why would I make it up? That's fucking sick, Zayn!"/ Niall actually has the nerve to yell at her. 

Nope. Not today. This is the first alone adult time she's had away from Niall with someone who isn't her mother or mother in law in over a year. "I'll be home in a little bit. I love you, goodbye." She hangs up, which is guaranteed to get her at least four more bitchy texts from her man. 

"Should I send Harry over to entertain him?" Louis suggests. It was much easier to get her guy to watch the kids so she could escape for some girl time than it was for Zayn, that's for sure. 

Niall made her change her outfit three times, then he hid her keys. Funny how quickly they appeared when Zayn said she'd take his new truck instead. 

Zayn shrugs. "Maybe, if he wants to. Niall hates when I do anything by myself. If I brought Zaidan with me he wouldn't have called for hours." 

Mrs. Styles giggles, already feeling a slight buzz as she texts Harry to call Niall and set something up. "I know, but if he wants to go out then it's no big deal." 

"Yes! Then he makes me feel like shit, saying he spends all day with me and blah blah blah." Mrs. Horan rolls her eyes, sipping her own drink. Mostly so she can lick the sugar off the rim. Best part, innit. 

"Yeah, I do that to Harry all the time." Louis nods, and honestly her best friend doesn't doubt that. 

"I think he's just feeling awkward because Elijah is home,"

Home- because he lives with them now. It's been a month and he's already settled into a routine. He goes to school throughout the week and spends Saturday's with Greg until they get to know each other better. Then they'll see about him staying with Greg more. Poor Eli already has such an attachment to Zayn though, and she fears he won't like anymore change. 

Louis sucks her teeth, leaning back in her chair as she blatantly checks out the group of men at the bar. "I wish Harry was like that with Myles. Haz wants to keep him. Gemma actually kept him last weekend," 

She already told Zayn about that. Lottie was perfectly okay with it, because Nick is in jail and Gemma forgave Lottie, but made it clear she wants to help with Myles. What does it say about their families that Zayn doesn't even find this shit weird anymore? 

"I wouldn't expect that from Gemma, but at the same time I would," Zayn thinks aloud, to which Louis agrees. 

"She's a bitch with a big heart." Probably the first sincere compliment Louis has ever given her sister in law. 

Zayn nods, gulping down the rest of her drink. "You ready to shop more?"

Niall refused to give her more than a couple hundred cash, probably hoping the sooner she ran out of money the sooner she'd come home. But after a little begging (and explaining she had to pay for Louis too) Niall grumpily handed over his card. Of course, because he gets emails every time it's swiped. He's probably following them right now, she wouldn't doubt. 

"You're literally the best." Louis nods seriously, eyes glossy. She's not crying, she's already drunk. 

Zayn winks and blows her a kiss before helping her up, the best friends hold hands on their way to the car. And if they forget to put money on the table for the tab... oops. 

***

Niall glares at the wall in front of him, fingers wrapped around the neck of a beer bottle. Next time him, Harry pays his sour mood absolutely no mind, humming as he makes an entire loafs worth of grilled cheeses. 

"They're just shopping Niall." Harry smiles all patient and content. 

Niall shifts his dirty look to Mr. Mom. "I know what they're doing." He holds up his phone to display his credit card activity. 

They've bought shoes and underwear, purses and apparently matching dildos- which, Louis will be taking both home with her or Niall's taking one back. The fuck does Zayn need with a fake cock. 

"Why are you so moody then?" Harry wonders. 

Niall let him order a movie for the kids, and surprisingly all four of them are glued to it. He honestly expected a lot more screaming and running around, but nope. 

"Because I know it's not about money." Harry shrugs. Niall's got more money than he knows what to do with. Pretty soon, he's going to let Harry help out with whatever he does so he can make some of it too. 

"She just lost another baby." Niall spits. "She doesn't need to be going out." 

She hasn't told him about it either, which is fucking irritating. 

"No reason to ground her Niall, I doubt she did it on purpose." Harry teases. 

"She should be resting Harry." He snaps back. 

Harry doesn't say anything, doesn't even look at Niall as he cuts the sandwiches and puts them all on separate plates. He delivers them to all four of the kids, coming back for juices Aubree and Zaidan suggested. 

When he's all done playing waiter, he comes to the counter where Niall is sitting and hugs him. It's warm and comforting and maybe a little gay but it's what Niall needs right now, and as his best friend, Harry knew that. 

"I'm sorry about the baby." Harry rubs his back. 

Crying would probably make this way more homo than it already is, so Niall fights it back. Manly pride and what not. 

"It'll happen eventually, bro." 

"That's the thing." Niall shakes his head, forehead on Harry's shoulder. "I don't want it to happen, she does. Every time it doesn't she gets depressed. She hasn't even told me about it this time, I just know." 

Harry doesn't say anything, probably doesn't know what to say. Niall appreciates the silence anyways. And if a few tears slip out and stain Harry's t-shirt, well. He won't say anything about it. 

***

Before they even get a chance to pull out of the parking lot, Zayn remembers she didn't pay their tab. Louis is dead set on leaving anyway, but Zayn is not trying to go to jail today. All she can picture is Niall's face as he bails her out. 

So when they go back in to pay, they end up ordering another drink to play it casual. And another, and another. And- three in the afternoon isn't too inappropriate of a time to be drunk, is it? 

Louis says no, and Zayn's consumed enough that she's at the point where she agrees with almost everything Louis is saying- which. Never a good sign there. 

"I've been texting this guy." Zayn confesses, smiling all shy at her phone. 

She really hadn't meant to tell anybody that, including Louis who never usually counts when it comes to secrets. But. He just texted her and she's smiling kind of big so... Louis would have noticed eventually. 

"Oh, really?" Louis mock gasps. "Is he blonde, and skinny and super annoying?" She rolls her eyes. 

Zayn shakes her head, to which Louis raises a disbelieving eyebrow. 

"I got his number off insta, I used to go to school with him." 

Louis gives her best friend the straightest straight face ever. "You're lying, bitch. You would never cheat on Niall, you're obsessed with him." 

"I'm not obsessed with him!" She totally is though. Niall is her baby, the love of her whole entire life. 

But... it's not that she feels... neglected, or anything. She just. Niall doesn't make her feel appreciated, or beautiful anymore. He used to always compliment her, but maybe she's losing his interest because he doesn't say anything anymore, unless she's in lingerie about to suck his dick. Then she's sexy. 

"And I'm not cheating. It's friendly," she excuses, knowing damn well even letting him follow her on instagram is wrong in Niall's eyes. 

That's another thing. All of her friends are Niall's friends. They're awesome and she loves their friends but it can't be healthy to only have friends that are mutual with Niall. 

"Then why are you smiling like that, you little whore." 

Because it's fun, and yet another example of how different her life would have been if she didn't choose Niall. Or- if Niall didn't choose her, rather. If she was with this guy when she had the chance she would probably still be in school. Probably wouldn't of had Zaidan. Wouldn't be married, with a beautiful house. 

All in all she'd still be in school, struggling with some minimum wage job, definitely being cheated on because come on, look at this guy. 

"Delete his number, shut that shit down." 

Well. It's safe to say this is not the reaction Zayn expected. But she's right. She should block and delete his number. 

"It's just- Louis it's so nice to have someone interested in me again."

It's hard to explain, really. Because Niall is interested in her, he just doesn't show it. All they talk about is Zaidan and Elijah and what they're having for dinner and "make sure you wash my work clothes". 

Louis isn't having any of it. She just keeps shaking her head, eyes all full of judgement, making Zayn feel ashamed. 

"Niall doesn't even let me go out anymore. Not even with him. And this guy- he asks me out to lunch and coffee, the other day he asked me to go to an art exhibit with him! I'd never go, like. I always find a way to tell him no. It's just nice, you know?" 

"You do know," Louis is all seriousness here. Ooo  
Scary. "That that shit is exactly what you said before you ran away and started fucking with Justin, right? They're always fun, until they're crazy and Niall has to rescue your ass. Shut it down." 

Zayn groans. Louis is right, but this isn't what she wants to hear because now she actually has to shut it down. Great. 

***

Zayn (and Louis) comes home (with one less contact in her phone, and one less insta follower, sigh) a little drunk and a lot cuddly. Her man is sprawled out on the couch, beer in hand, watching t.v. with Harry and Zayn wastes no time crawling into his lap. 

"I missed you." She pouts into his neck. 

Niall puts his hand on her butt, scooting her forward. Before he can say anything back, Zaidan comes running towards them, screaming: "Momma!" 

With no help at all, because the parents are trying to have a moment here, Zaidan climbs in the couch, hugging both him mom and dad. 

"When did you come home Momma!" The little boy screeches. 

So much like his daddy, acting as if Zayn going out for a few hours was actually months or years. Silly boys. 

"Just now, buddy," she kisses her littlest boy on the forehead. 

"Hey Elijah." Louis greets. When Zayn looks up she sees him standing by the door, watching the family hug shyly, waving to Louis. 

"Eli, come here buddy." Zayn wiggles around in Niall's lap, shifting enough to make room for Eli in her own. 

As a parent, she feels it says something about their bond the way he books it to her the second he's invited. 

"Was Uncle Niall good while I was gone?" She asks him, ignoring Zaidan's babbles and kissing the older boys head now. 

Eli nods, squeezing Zayn tight. He stays like that while she tries to make sense of Zaidan's excited babbling. 

"Do you guys wanna come home with me?" Louis offers. 

Harry is already by the door helping Serenity and Aubree put their shoes on. 

"And Renity and Bree and Harry?!" Zaidan is so excited by this. 

Why- these adults will never know. Because the girls don't really include him, but he notice that

 

"Yeah, are you coming?" Aunt Louis holds her hand out to help Zaidan hop off of the couch. He runs over to Harry, getting in line to help get his shoes tied. 

"What about you, big guy? You wanna come play?" Lou crouches down to Elijah's size, patting his soft curls. 

"You can, but you don't have to." Zayn assures the boy. He hates leaving her, she's noticed. Even when he's just with Greg, Maura comments on how he doesn't open up and relax until Zayn calls to check on him. 

"We're gonna get pizza," Louis bribes. "And probably even stop at the park before we go home," 

"Ooo, pizza and the park." Niall's definitely trying to persuade the boy to go. Zayn thinks it's probably so they can have a night without kids, and it's nothing personal to Eli. 

"Will you call me there too?" Elijah asks Zayn, eyes big and full of worry. 

Zayn nods, squeezing him tighter for extra reassurance. 

"Okay." Elijah agrees. Before he goes to get his shoes, he gives Zayn a big kiss (on the lips, she hates when he does that) and Niall a fist bump. 

"Thanks." Zayn pokes Louis' belly, leaning back into her man properly now that she's child free. She's still a little drunk, too. 

"No problem. I figured why not, since I'm dropping all four back off tomorrow. Five if you include Harry. Momma needs some alone time." She winks. 

Niall groans, knowing exactly what she's trying to joke about. "Take them both with you. Whatever there's two of in that bag, they both go with you." 

"No!" Zayn covers his mouth. She's never had one, and she's very interested for them to try it out together. Tonight. Today. The second Harry pulls out of the drive.... 

"You told him?" Louis scrunches her nose, wondering if Harry knows. He'll know eventually but it was meant to be a sexy surprise. 

Niall's wife shakes her head. "I told you he was tracking the card," 

Niall doesn't even look or feel ashamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have questions let me know!!!!!!! :)


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one month later lol

"You wanna see what I bought?" Zayn offers, massaging Niall's scalp with her fingertips. 

"Not really." Niall sort of grumbles. 

She nods, already knew his answer before she even asked. "Kay. Were Zai and Eli good?" 

Clearly Zaidan isn't sick, but Zayn won't embarrass him by bringing that up. 

Niall shrugs, flicking through channels on the television. "They aren't normally bad kids." 

Zaidan's never really been bad, but Elijah is such a good kid that sometimes it even surprises Zayn. He's a good distraction for little Zai too, though nobody in the world can stop him from repeating "mama mama mama!" until she looks when he finds something interesting. 

"I wanna go on a date," she pouts. Pouts- because come on. Niall leaving the house is all good until Zayn wants to come with him. "Let's go on a date baby,"

He just looks at her, eyebrows raised. 

"Please baby!" Zayn resorts to whining. It works for Zaidan... "I just bought a nice dress, and a nice little something for when we get home," 

It's lacey and crotchless. Niall's favorite. 

He groans, not the good kind of groan either. The annoyed kind. "I just wanna chill, Zee." 

"We chill everyday." Zayn shakes her head, scooting herself off of him. "It's fine, I'll just go out by myself." She semi bluffs. She just wants Niall to cave and take her out, because obviously she'd rather go out with her man than alone but she will. 

"Go where?" Niall snorts. 

Because, obviously he knows the only places she ever goes is to her mom's, his mom's, or Louis'. 

She wants to go see a movie. She wants to eat. She wants a reason to get pretty again. No point in getting pretty to sit around the house any more either, because while Zaidan used to tell her she's beautiful, his father used to accuse her of having someone over while he was gone. 

Zayn shrugs, gathering her shopping bags before making her way to the stairs. "Somewhere my company is appreciated. Somewhere, where somebody wants to talk to me." She says dreamily, dramatic. 

Niall gets up, following her with a grumpy look on his face. "Don't start with this shit again, Zee, alright?" 

"What shit?" She mutters, stomping a little. She goes slow on purpose to irritate him extra for being an ass hole. 

"All I want to do is spend time with you."

Zayn would live in Niall's pockets if she could. Even when she's mad at him she can't stand not being in the same room as him. He's her favorite person in the entire world. 

"We spend time together everyday!" Niall groans, bored and annoyed. Jack ass. "We were literally just spending time together," 

Zayn laughs, tossing her bags on their bed. She goes over to her vanity and begins wiping off her makeup. She'll need to redo it anyway if she's leaving. 

"We don't spend time together. I talk to you, you grunt two word responses then I watch you watch tv all night. Maybe we have sex, then go to bed." 

When she turns around, Niall's sitting on the bed peeking through her bags shamelessly. 

"We're parents now," he mumbles, much more interested in what's in the bags. He is looking through the one with his surprise in it too... good, since he was just claiming he didn't care. Didn't want to see any of it. 

"Don't blame this on our children, Niall. We have plenty of time away from them." Like tonight. And every other Saturday when they go to his mom's, and the occasional night her mom takes Zaidan (even though Elijah stays home), and every other time they go to Louis'. 

Which reminds Zayn, she hasn't taken the girls off Louis' hands in months. She should really offer... one of these days. 

"We have one child, Zayn." 

Zayn rolls her eyes, tying her hair in a high ponytail. "You know what I mean, and if we're going to fight about Eli again I really will leave." That's not at all a threat either. 

"Until you have the baby," Niall continues as if she hadn't even said a word, looking up at her like he knows something. 

Zayn hasn't said a word to anybody, including Louis. She doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't want to hear it, and definitely doesn't want Niall to know about it. 

"Until I have a baby, yeah." She plays dumb. 

"No," Niall shakes his head, eyebrows raised. "Until you have /the/ baby. The one you're pregnant with." 

How... does he know? She was doing an exceptionally well job at hiding everything... 

"I'm not pregnant. I wouldn't of drank today if I was pregnant." 

He gives her a look, one that says it's going to be a long night and one of them (gee, wonder who??) is going to end up crying. Hint: it's never Niall any more. 

"You drank with Zaidan." He shrugs. 

Zayn stops, and just stares at him. Why is he being mean? "You're throwing that in my face again?" 

He doesn't answer her, goes around her question completely. "You don't give a shit, because you already lost the baby and you just didn't tell me." 

"Yes Niall, I lost the baby." Zayn is so irritated with him! She hates when he's like this. "The baby that I begged you for, because apparently we can only have babies when /you/ decide we can." 

He tosses his gift on the bed carelessly, standing up but leaning against the bed frame, staring at her with his usual "I'm about to be mean and then leave" expression. 

"Kind of like I can only know shit going on in /my/ house or with /my/ family when you decide to tell me?" 

Oh yeah, Zayn's leaving. She's leaving before he does too, so he knows she left. Then she's turning off her phone because fuck him. As a matter of fact- 

"Oh fuck off, Niall!" Zayn scoffs, quickly changing her top with her back to him. He doesn't deserve a show right now, even though he does get one when she changes her pants too. 

"Why are you being disrespectful?" He asks, as if he hasn't been disrespectful this entire conversation. "That's what you're wearing to a date?" He comments, scrunching his nose in judgement at her lounge clothes. 

She's either going to Louis' or her parents... She might as well be comfortable. 

"We're not going on a date." She mocks him quietly, now more mindful of just how bratty she's acting. Not that he didn't deserve it, but still. 

"Then?" He throws his arms in the air. "The fuck are we fighting for?" 

Zayn rolls her eyes even harder at that, tossing extra lounge clothes and a blanket in her bag for show. "Because you're an ass hole, and I'm over it." 

"Where you think you're going?" Niall actually sounds amused... what's funny? 

"I told you I'm leaving, I don't want to stay here." She shakes her head, heading towards the door. Niall blocks her. 

"What did I say when I asked you to marry me?" 

For most wives, hearing that sentence would probably mean it's followed by something sweet and reminiscent. With Niall, it's anything but. 

"I said if we're going to be together, there's no more leaving. No more back and forth. We're either together or we aren't, and that's final." He stares at her face, all serious while he gives his speech. 

Zayn nods, remembering that day. When she turned around and saw Niall down on his knee in their living room... She thought she was dreaming. It was like a fairytale, perfect for them. In that moment it meant so much more than words could ever describe. 

"Move." She says anyway, making no effort to actually move him. 

He rolls his eyes. "Put your little fucking bindle down, cause you're not running away. Even if that means I have to take your entire car apart. You're not leaving." 

Her shoulders sag, dropping her bag and stomping her foot like an angsty teenager. Coincidentally, the exact way her husband was treating her like. 

"Why do you want me to stay? You're mad at me and I don't know what to do with myself when you're mad at me." She confesses, sniffling. Pathetic as it may sound, it's not a lie. Zayn gets bored and all she ever wants is Niall's attention. 

"I'm not mad at you!" He laughs at her pouted face. "I just want you to tell me these things so I can be there for you. You know it hurts my feelings when you hide stuff from me," 

Aw. Zayn juts her bottom lip out and takes the two steps necessary to hide her face in his neck. "Sorry." She mumbles into his shirt, not really sorry at all. She never even told him she was pregnant again, obviously for a reason. 

"Mhm." He hums, rubbing her back. "Get dressed, I'm gonna whoop that ass in putt-putt." 

Zayn doesn't even like golf, but she squeals with excitement and runs to the bathroom to get ready anyways.

***

"Mother fuckin' shit," Harry curses for the millionth time this morning. 

Louis sighs, holding Zaidan on her hip so he can see himself in the mirror while he brushes his teeth. "Could you watch your fucking mouth, please." 

She's serious, but she's also teasing him. He's frustrated... She gets it. As soon as he woke up he has to piss outside because someone flushed a toy down the toilet and he's too stupid to use the one downstairs. It's not the end of the world though. 

"Could you guys stop flushing stupid shit down the fucking toilet, please." He looks ridiculous, hair flapping as he aggressively plunges the toilet.

How do they know it's a toy clogging the toilet? Simple. It started over flowing when Aubree came out. She likes to take her toys to the bathroom with her when she poops, and if she drops the toy in the toilet she won't pick it out because that's gross. So she flushes it, and doesn't tell anybody about it. So they find it on their own. They've been through this before, more than once. 

"Talk to your daughter about that." Auntie Louis hands Zaidan a cup of water to rinse, smiling when the little guy gargles it. He must watch his dad brush his teeth. Zayn swishes it, Niall gargles. 

Louis would find it weird that she knows that, but she lived with Niall for a year and Zayn for about half that. Obviously she doesn't respect others privacy. 

"Serenity Louise!" Harry screams, kicking the side of the toilet in frustration. 

"Aubree Joanne." Louis corrects quietly, carrying Zaidan to the living room . 

"Aubree!" He screams again. 

Serenity and Aubree look at their mom with amused faces, plastic food in each of their hands. Elijah is sitting at their tiny table, clearly waiting for the two girls to serve his breakfast. 

"Why is he yelling at /us/?" Aubree raises an accusing eyebrow. She's the one who did it...

Louis shrugs. She's staying out of this one. 

Harry comes out a few minutes later, red faced and pouty. It's clear nobody takes Daddy serious when he's angry when Serenity turns his back to him, covering her mouth as she giggles. 

"Nobody go in the bathroom." He's using his dad voice, the deep one that only scares them when they did something worthy of a possible spanking. (Both parents were so against hitting their babies but said babies really needed a reality check that day, bad enough that it was /Harry/ who swatted their bottoms.) 

"If you have to go potty go outside like I had to." 

The only one intimidated by him right now is Eli. The girls smirk, knowing better than to blatantly laugh in his face and Zaidan just keeps handing him cars. 

"Relax." Louis cuddles up to his side, pushing his frizzy hair away from his face. "I'll call Liam to fix it." 

Harry stares for a minute before he admits defeat with a sigh, nodding his head. "Yeah, okay." 

His wife gives him a little kiss on his cheek to sooth his manly ego or whatever. "You loosened it up for him, right?"

He laughs, finally cracking a smile. Bout time he got rid of that grumpy face, as cute as it is it's scaring Elijah. 

"Always do, don't I?" 

No, almost never. He actually makes it worse somehow every single time. 

*

Liam stands in the Styles' family bathroom, staring down at their toilet with a blank expression and his hands on his hips. 

After a few more seconds, he clears his throat and turns to Louis and Harry. "You two do know I'm not a plumber, correct?" 

Harry's face is confused, his wives similar but more angry. "You work on houses for a living, Liam," Fucking ridiculous Louis has to remind the big dope. 

"Yeah, construction," he says slowly like they're stupid or something. He's the stupid one...

"Literally the same thing, Liam please," the wife and mother of two massages her temples. Been a long day already, and now Liam with his jokes... She's not in the mood. "If you don't want to, or you want us to pay you or whatever just say that-"

"No, no Louis! Construction like, if you need your roof replaced or you want to add on to your deck..." Liam Payne attempts and fails to explain. 

"Plunge a toilet..." Harry adds on, mumbling under his breath. Liam can fix a roof and build a deck but he can't fix a toilet? Harry's not buying that. It's all the same thing. 

Liam doesn't hear him. "Did you try plunging it?" He shrugs. 

What a fantastic fucking idea Liam, Harry wants to say, because yeah, they /totally/ called him all the way here to plunge their toilet without even trying to plunge it themselves. Idiot. 

"Yeah, for like an hour." Louis nods. "Reckon we need a whole new toilet," 

That's what motivates Liam. "Nah, you don't need a new one, this one's pretty much brand new," he grabs the plunger and gets to work. 

See. Louis knew he knew about plumbing... 

"Right." Harry nods, like he knows what the fuck he's even talking about. "We have things to do, but when you're finished there'll be a cold beer with your name on it in the kitchen." 

Louis gives Harry a look, confused as to what it is they have to do? The girls are playing at the neighbors house along with Elijah, and Zaidan is down for a nap...

He must know she's going to ask, because when they get to the kitchen he explains. "He treats me like a little helper when I stick around to watch." Harry shrugs. 

Louis really can't contain her laughter at that. 

When Liam comes out Louis has to laugh at Harry again, because as soon as the man heard foot steps (after a successful sounding flush) he ran to the kitchen sink, acting busy with pipes underneath it. 

"Oh wow, what's wrong with those?" Liam Payne, their personal handy man asks looking all sexy and concerned. 

What. Louis is only human. 

"Oh uh, nothing I just fixed it." Harry slams the cabinet shut and stands up, wiping his hands like he actually got them dirty. Ridiculous. 

"What was it?" 

As amusing as this would be to watch... Louis buts in and saves her man, perfect wife she is and what not. 

"Thanks for fixing that Liam, knew you were a plumber." She winks. 

Liam laughs, shaking his head. "What are you guys up to today? Me and Danielle are gonna have a few people over. Think she's cooking... You guys can stop by if you're not up to anything else." He offers so casually. 

This is a big deal... He hasn't introduced his fiance to anybody besides like, Andy. Louis was starting to think he made her up. 

"Bring the kids, not much there for 'em but the dogs will be happy," 

"Okay," Louis nods. "Yeah, we'll go. Text Harry the address," they've never even been to Liam 's new house yet. 

"Will do. Let Zayn and Dick Head know they can come too." 

Louis honestly doubts Niall will let Zayn go, but she wouldn't be surprised if he showed up without her.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long it was so hard to write even 20 words without falling asleep yikes anyways some !serious! foreshadowing here enjoy

"And like, he kept telling me about all these business opportunities, and how I could make real money... whatever the fuck that means right," Josh continues his story to Zayn, completely ignoring the rest of his audience. 

Especially Niall, who is standing between them with his hands on Zayn's waist, staring at her with hooded eyes. He distinctively remembers giving her specific instructions not to talk to anybody... While that mostly applied to any randoms Liam and Danielle have invited... Zayn and Josh have been in their own little world for at least tweny minutes. 

"The whole time I'm thinking like, awesome, you know? I could use some real money, and then he starts calling me Pretty Boy, ordering drinks I definitely didn't ask for," 

Zayn knows where this is going. Part of her will probably always miss college life. Josh's stories have that affect on her. Oh well, at least with Josh still around she'll always know what she missed out on. 

Which is usually some really stupid and irresponsible shit. 

"He paid you for sex?" Liam has about the same idea Zayn does. 

Nobody misses the shocked, mortified look Danielle sends her fiance. They've all kind of figured out why Liam hasn't introduced her to anybody. She's very... uptight. 

"Gay porn." Harry and Niall say at the same time. 

Yeah. That's exactly what Zayn was thinking.

Josh squawks, guilty. "It's not gay if he just wanted to watch me jerk off, right?" 

Oh god. 

"No, no of course not," Niall shrugs, clearly taking the piss. Harry laughs so hard he starts crying. 

"Its super fucking gay." Louis rolls her eyes , only annoyed because Harry's leaning his entire body weight on her, expecting her to support his fat ass so he doesn't topple over. 

"It's not gay!" Josh whines. "It's not, right Zayn?" 

"Aw," she coos, pinching his cheek. 

The second she drops her hand from his face Niall grabs it and traps it between his own, probably to ensure she doesn't touch Josh again. 

"Of course it's not gay, Pretty Boy." 

"Whatever." Josh pouts, everybody's laughing at him and Zayn would feel bad but... he's the one who said it in front of everybody. 

*

Later on, long after all four kids are sleeping in Liam's living room, the high school friends are still in the backyard hanging out. Danielle disappeared a few hours ago, Liam didn't seem bothered by it so neither did anybody else. 

If anything, Danielle leaving (or going to bed early, Zayn has no idea) has made Louis more comfortable. Which naturally means Harry has a frog face and somebody is probably uncomfortable.

Obviously not Josh or Niall though, because they're the only people by the couple and Josh keeps smirking and making what's probably meant to be a sexy face while Niall alternates between laughing and grimacing. 

"Nice to have everybody together again, innit?" Liam asks from the lawn chair next to Zayn's. 

Zayn nods. She loves her friends, loves seeing Niall so relaxed and happy even more. 

"It's hard, cause we all live so far now. And there's kids," Liam continues, obviously buzzed. 

"Yeah," Zayn agrees again. "We're all grown up now." 

Being around all of their friends really takes Zayn back to high school. Seems like yesterday they were all hanging out after graduation, her and Niall all cuddled up while his girlfriend hung out with her other friends. Now Zayn has Niall's baby, has Niall period. So... she won. 

Liam snorts into his cup, taking a sip of what Zayn assumes is beer. Her and Harry, and Danielle before she vanished, are the only adults not drinking. 

"Are we?" he nods his head towards the other side of the yard where Louis is instructing the men around her to form a human pyramid. Someone is definitely going to get hurt. "I think we're all still kids, doing adult shit."

Zayn likes that idea, that they're still kids. The thing is, she can't actually have a conversation with Liam without wanting to ask about his girlfriend, and why is his fiance so weird? And why is he suddenly hosting barbecues? And when the fuck is his wedding? Is his girlfriend invited? Zayn wants to know. 

"He finally treating you right?" Liam asks, more quietly now. 

Without even thinking about it Zayn checks her phone again, Chris still hasn't texted her back yet but he did say he was tired, so he probably fell asleep on her again. 

"We have our days." Zayn smiles politely.

It's the truth, too. She loves Niall to death and some days Niall loves her more than that, but more often than not, he isn't affectionate. She's starting to notice that he really only gets clingy when he's horny and only wants to hangout with her when someone else does.

"He's lucky. They don't make 'em like you no more." 

She's far from perfect, but apparently nobody else sees that. Liam isn't the first guy to tell her how lucky Niall is. 

"Niall's amazing," Zayn mumbles, only because she can't exactly not defend Niall. That's not good wifey material. 

"I still think about it, you know? A lot actually." Liam stares at her while he talks, finger rubbing across his bottom lip. 

Just as Zayn's about to say "Hmm?" Liam says: "You and me, I mean."

None of Niall's friends are loyal to him, poor guy. 

"Nothing happened, Liam." Zayn reminds him, stern but gentle. 

Liam nods, looking away from her finally. "Right, but it did." 

"No, it didn't." 

Whatever they did, which honestly wasn't much, was years ago. Those little touches weren't necessarily worth remembering. 

"Yeah, because my dick was too big, and you were scared."

Zayn's cheeks heat up. He's not lying, she's never admitted that fact to anyone, including Louis. She always just said they didn't have a condom that would fit but... they weren't even going to use one. 

Ah, to be young again. They had a lot of good times in high school, when things were simple. 

Simple, because she wants to try again, to tell him she isn't scared now but she can't. She's married. 

"You were wet enough, probably could have took it." Liam ponders aloud. 

Great, now her cheeks are red /and/ she's damp between the legs. 

He saves her from having to respond, luckily, because he keeps talking. "Wasn't talking about that night specifically, though. I always liked you back then, thought you knew." 

She did. Everybody did. "Really?" she laughs. " No, I didn't." 

She's thought about how life would be if she chose Liam instead of Niall, the same way she thought about it with Justin. It's different with Liam though, because she actually knows him. She highly doubts it's in Liam to destroy her things and threaten her life. 

Then again, she didn't picture Liam as a cheater, either. The grass is always greener...

"You're just reminiscing because you're engaged," Zayn smiles, soft and polite. 

Engaged to a rebound, Zayn thinks but has never ever said to anybody out loud. Eleanor crushed the kid. 

"Maybe." Liam nods. 

The group make their way over to the patio area, only Niall coming all the way up. He hovers over Zayn, smelling like sweat and beer. 

It's not as repulsive as it sounds.

"What you doin' baby?" he asks, all quiet and cute. 

He wants something. It's not something sexy either, because he knows he doesn't have to be nice for that. 

Zayn shakes her head. 

"Josh wants to go to the frat," 

That's it. That's what he wanted. 

By the gate, it looks like Louis and Josh are saying their goodbyes as Harry carefully carries Aubree to the car, Serenity walking next to him looking extra sleepy. Poor babe. Zayn's already feeling bad about having to move her boys. 

"We have to get Zai and Eli home," she reminds him. It's already after midnight. 

"So tell him no?" He's only asking so Zayn won't have an attitude about him going. He's going to go with or without her permission. 

"What, are you gonna go after you drop us off? I don't care Niall." She isn't just saying that either. He can go, he deserves a night with his boys. 

"You don't want to go?" 

Um. She can't. Instead of pointing that out though, she shakes her head no. "I'm tired. You go, have fun." 

Niall grins, flashing his beautiful white teeth before giving her a couple quick kisses. He fishes his keys from his pockets and doesn't even blink before putting them in her palm. 

"I'll be home in two hours, okay?" 

The frat is over an hour from Liam's house, about two from theirs. Zayn already expects a phone call in four hours saying he's spending the night. 

"Call me when you get there." Just so she knows he's safe, and not arrested. 

Niall nods, kissing her one more time before doing some sort of goodbye high five with Liam. 

"You can come with us, if your old lady will let you," he offers Liam. 

That better fucking not be how he refers to Zayn to other people or they're getting divorced. 

Not really, but still.

"Next time." Liam promises, and Niall's either too drunk or he just doesn't noticed how tight lipped and forced Liam's smile is, because he nods and hugs him goodbye. 

*

Liam and Zayn are the only ones awake in his big, beautiful home. Her boys are sleeping peacefully on his sofa with some cartoon playing quietly on the television and honestly, Zayn really isn't sure if Danielle is here or not. If she's sleeping, she'd probably be upstairs, Zayn assumes. 

They're in the kitchen, sitting across from each other at his kitchen table. Liam leans over and gently slaps his big hand on Zayn's knee, shaking it. 

"You don't have to go, you know? It's late to be driving," his face is probably way too close to hers, she should probably move. 

She doesn't. 

"And sleep where?" Zayn smiles, shaking her head. "My backs too bad for a couch. Thank you though-" 

She's interrupted by his lips on hers. 

She saw him leaning in, knew it was going to happen. It's just- there's no one here to stop it this time. There's no fighting or yelling. It's happening, and the only way it will stop is if Zayn stops it. 

***

"Mommy's acting weird." Aubree scrunches her nose in disgust where she's sitting on the counter, waiting for Harry to make her and her sister's chocolate milk. 

In sippy cups with rubber nipples, because yeah they're probably way too old but so fucking what. They like to drink before bed and this was the easiest way Harry could bribe them back to sleep. 

"She's just happy, Bree." Serenity informs, head leaning back against her mommy's shoulder. 

"She's such a weirdo, right daddy?" Aubree attempts to whisper. 

The whole house is silent and they're all in the same space, literally reaching distance of each other. 

"Why am I a weirdo, pretty baby?" Louis tries her best not to slur. She's a little tired but after these tots go to bed she's getting fucked. That's worth staying up for in her professional opinion. 

"You're just keep smiling a lot, and yours hair is all nuts." 

Louis coos and fonds the entire time her blonde baby talks. She's so cute and sweet. They have to make more. Harry always helps her make the best babies. 

"She's smiling because she's happy, duh." Serenity repeats. 

"So happy, my sweet little Angel baby doll." Louis coos, kissing all over Serenitys's cheeks. 

Harry finishes shaking the cups and hands the yellow one to Aubree. Naturally, she whines and reaches for the purple one, of course he gives it to her. 

"Bed time. Come on, you girls can have the tv on in your room." Harry carries Aubree and holds Serenity's hand on the way to their room. 

He's so nice with them. Louis is most definitely for sure giving him a baby tonight. 

It takes Harry like, three of the longest minutes ever to finally come in their room where Louis has collapsed onto the mess of their bed, fully clothed. 

"Get that dick out." She demands, eyes closed. 

Harry snorts, moving stuff off of their bed. So much clothes, so much laundry. It's all clean though, luckily, because Louis is an amazing housewife, what with her being unemployed and what not. 

"You wanna get fucked?" he asks, super casual. He's not going to have sex with her tonight. She's drunk and she'll fall asleep as soon as she comes, if she even makes it that long. 

Harry is not fucking her while she sleeps. 

"I wanna give you a baby." she confesses. 

Aw. Drunk Louis says the sweetest things. Too bad sober Louis won't agree. 

"Yeah? That's so nice of you, baby." he works on taking her shoes off, then her pants. He already has a shirt he can change her into for sleep. 

"I'm so nice." Louis agrees, literal seconds away from sleep. 

Just after Harry's got both shoes off, sure enough she's sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at this pls   
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/10071674/chapters/22442783


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's super late and a little short but it took me a long time to decide where I want to go with this because this is the longest time I've ever spent on one story and I've been building these characters personalities for a longggg time so ugh ruining Zayn's character and zialls relationship was something i really had to think about ):

Liam's tongue feels foreign in her mouth- but, not necessarily in a bad way. She lets him kiss her, her own tongue just barely moving against his. It goes on for minutes probably, until Zayn catches herself moaning and pulls away. 

Liam looks at her, eyes hooded as he reaches in his pants. Zayn doesn't know what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't him just pulling out his cock. His big, hard cock. Fuck. 

"Fuck," Zayn mutters. 

"I made the first move." He tells her, dragging his palm slowly up his shaft. "The next one's up to you."

"Fuck." Zayn repeats. 

She stands up, both of their eyes still locked in each other as her hands mindlessly unbutton her jeans. She pushes them down to her thighs, kicking off her shoes before pushing them the rest of the way down. 

"If you tell anybody about this," Zayn threatens , hooking her thumbs in the sides of her panties next. "I'll kill you before Niall does." 

"Tell them what?" Liam smiles, grabbing her hips to help her straddle him. 

She's half naked in Liam's kitchen with her son in the next room, so close that all he has to do is sit up and he can see her. She knows it's wrong, but it feels good. 

Zayn gasps, sitting fully on Liam's cock, his hands all over her. "I'll say you're lying," she whispers, mostly to herself. "I could tell Niall you took advantage of me," 

Liam's hands squeeze her ass cheeks, using them as leverage to slide her up and down. Zayn thinks that, now probably isn't too late to stop. She could get up and leave right now, but she's not going to. This is the most fun she's had in a long time. 

"Yeah?" Liam breathes, their faces close enough that Zayn could kiss him to shut him up. "Seems more like you're taking advantage of me." 

To prove his point, he takes his hands off of her and puts them behind his head instead. Zayn keeps moving, bouncing and grinding, moaning softly. 

She has to laugh at the smirk on his face. He probably feels so fucking cool right now, especially since Niall's been such a shit to him all these years. It's not about Niall though, at least for Zayn it isn't. 

"You're stronger than I am." She counters, uselessly. He wouldn't stop her if she got up and redressed herself. He's not even touching her.

"Not even touching you," but he's staring at her neck like it personally offends him that his mouth isn't on it- or maybe that's only offensive to Zayn... 

She clenches, grinding her clit against his pubic hair. "Never knew you were such a lazy lover, Payne." 

That gets to him, just as Zayn hoped it would. He locks his arms around her back and stands, effortlessly. His cock doesn't even slip out in the process, goes in deeper of anything. God, he's so strong. 

"That's it." 

He lays her on the kitchen table, roughly yanking her knees so that her butt is hanging off and proceeds to slam back into her, hard. She must get loud then, because he keeps telling her to shut up and fuck, she never thought that would be something she's into. 

*

Niall's drunk. Of fucking course he's drunk, he is at the frat house after all and hello, he does have enough manners to respect fraternity traditions. 

Niall's also married, like so married that the little cutie with her breasts out who keeps twirling her hair and laughing at everything he says doesn't even register as flirting to him right now.

"I'm so proud of you, Josho." Niall nods, not really caring that somebody else was just talking about something totally different. It wasn't as important as what Niall has to say. Nothing ever is or will be. 

"Oh yeah?" Josh smirks at his intoxicated friend, arm draped across his catch of the nights shoulders. "Why's that?" 

"Is it because he's -" Niall doesn't know what the girl was going to say, and he never will because he cuts her off. 

"You made it, man. You're almost done." He's referring to school. 

Josh got a degree, Niall got a family. Both successful, just in different ways. 

"I hope Zaidan finishes school like his favorite Uncle Joshy." Niall pinches his friends cheek like he's a big baby. 

As far as Zaidan's favorite uncle, easy. That's actually Harry. As in, Harry is the only one he actually asks for. Whenever any of Niall's guy friends are around, Zaidan likes them enough. He likes guy time. Proper little lad he is. 

"You want him to be a little doctor? So he can fix your hip and your knee? And your back-"

"Fuck off." Fucking college kids. This is what Niall gets for trying to be fucking nice. 

Though, it would probably be really cute if Zaidan grew up to be a doctor, since he's the reason his momma didn't become one. On his mature, less selfish days, Niall does feel pretty fucking bad about that still. Doesn't for a minute regret it, but whatever. 

"You have a son?" Lexy asks Niall with her head tilted to the side and a small smirk on her lips. 

The proud Dad nods, grinning... Well. Proudly. 

"Ah, two technically," because it's seeming as though Elijah isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Niall is kind of getting used to the little slugger anyways.

Lydia coos at the picture Niall shows her on his phone of Elijah and Zaidan smiling on their bikes. He couldn't fucking believe it that day, when the kid said he didn't know how to ride a bike. He put the boys in his truck and went to buy one immediately. 

"They don't um," Loretta licks her lips, contemplating. "Do they have the same mom or..." 

The boys don't look a thing alike, from their features down to their complexion. Niall's too drunk to piece together exactly what Laura is getting at. 

"Yeah, technically." Niall shrugs. 

Lucy snorts, shaking her head at her friend that's cuddling with Josh on the sofa. 

"Two baby momma's. One I can deal with, but two." She shakes her head, dropping the sweet voice she had all night. "Forget it."

What? Greg is not his baby momma. "I only have one baby momma, Lindsey." He informs. 

Laurie's flirty smile reappears, head tilt and all. "My name's not Lindsey. It's Jenna," 

Well shit. Niall wasn't even kind of close. 

Julie reaches for Niall's hand, for what reason he doesn't fucking know. 

"Um," she holds up his hand, pointing at his ring finger with a less than pleased expression. 

"What?" Niall doesn't get it. 

"You're a pig!" 

And he definitely doesn't feel like he deserved the drink Katie splashes in his face after that either. Wait until he tells Zayn about this bitch. 

***

It's early in the afternoon and Niall still isn't home. He called Zayn on FaceTime about an hour ago and said he was on his way, so he should be home soon. 

Zayn doesn't really want him home, though. 

"What's this, mister?" Zayn holds up a paper she found in Eli's backpack while trying to get it ready for school tomorrow. 

Maybe she's a shit parent or whatever for not checking his bookbag all weekend but fuck it. The kid was busy. 

Eli shrugs. 

"You got in trouble?" Zayn pouts.

Eli is a good kid, she couldn't imagine what for- /oh/. According to the note his teacher wrote, he had to move to yellow from green for saying "fuck it". 

Couldn't be that bad if he's only on yellow instead of red, right? 

"How come you said a bad word?" 

Zaidan gasps. "Oh no, that's baaaaaad boy. Right mommy?" 

Poor Eli hangs his head in shame, lip pouted like he's about to start crying. "I just, I had to!" He defends. 

Okay. Zayn actually finds it funny, because the note says he said "the f swear word" which, come on, totally eye roll worthy. But she isn't going to laugh in his face when he's having these emotions, clearly shit went down for him to say that. 

"What happened, buddy? I'm not mad. Tell me what happened." 

"I just, I didn't want to sit at table three! I wanted to sit at table one because that girl wanted to play princess and I didn't know!" The little boy stomps, visibly frustrated. "Was it princess Anna or princess Elsa? It was too much pressure mom I just didn't want to sit at table three but the teacher Miss Jacob told me I had to go back!"

Kindergarten problems. Zayn wishes hers were this simple again. 

"I like Elsa, don't you mommy?" Zaidan throws his two cents in as usual. 

The mother exactly know what to do here? Like. What's she supposed to say? As much as she doesn't want to see him, she has to admit she's pretty sure Niall would know what to say. 

"Buddy, next time just tell her you're not playing Princesses. Power rangers are way cooler." There. Boom. Parenthood Mic drop. 

Probably not, though. 

Zaidan picks the metaphorical Mic back up. "Nuh uh mommy it's ninja turtles and Loshi on Mario." 

Her baby is so fucking cute. And cool. How does he even know who yoshi is? Must be playing video games with his dad.. 

"I was crying." Eli tells Zayn sadly. Aw. 

She pulls him in for kisses and cuddles, which naturally makes Zaidan want to kiss and cuddle him too. That should make the boy feel better. 

"Can't say bad words," she tells him between kisses. "Okay?" 

Eli nods. Zaidan watches him and nods too. They're so cute. 

*

Niall comes home tired and stinky. He tries to coax Zayn into showering with him, but she uses making dinner as an excuse. After dinner he plays with the boys a bit before laying on the couch with Zaidan, both seconds from sleep. She's currently sharing the recliner with Elijah while they watch some bee movie. 

Her phone vibrates next to her, she looks at Niall before checking it. He didn't seem to notice, and that's good, because it's Liam texting her. 

What the fuck does Liam want? 

It's just a winking face. A single, winking emoji. 

She doesn't text back. Just stares at the message, heart racing a bit when he starts typing again. 

/nialls a lucky guy/

Immediately she responds. /please don't./ 

Don't talk about Niall, or what she did to Niall. She feels terrible, but only because she doesn't care... If that makes sense. Like, she wouldn't take it back even if she could. 

/meet me tn ??? / 

Yeah. She doesn't know how it where yet but yeah, she wants to. 

**

Zayn doesn't meet with Liam. She actually shuts her phone off and hides it under a sofa cushion before dragging herself upstairs. She tucks both boys in, giving them extra kisses because, let's be real here, the next step is going to the room where Niall is and... Yeah. Obviously she doesn't want to look at the husband she just cheated on. 

But she kind of has to, because when she cuddles Zaidan too long Niall eventually comes to look for her, holding her hand as he leads her down the hall to their room. 

"Missed you so much." Niall tells her as he cuddles his face in her neck. 

Zayn just lays there, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

"Josh doesn't smell as good as you," he grins, kissing her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dont hate me I love yall


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh I'm SORRY okay y'all don't understand how hard this is for me I just want ziall to be happy also ps small time jump! a few months idk like 5 or something just roll with it thanks

Louis sighs, only somewhat content in her mother in laws house due to the petting Harry is giving her growing belly. Lottie and Gemma are here with baby Myles, and the oddest thing about that still is that it is Lottie visiting with the child, not Gemma or Anne. Lottie, the person who actually birthed him. 

This family is so dysfunctional, Louis thinks, as she watches Harry's sister, who is watching her own sister bounce the laughing child on her lap, stone faced, void of any emotion whatsoever. 

"He has two teeth sprouting through," Gemma tells Lottie. 

Lottie only nods in response. 

Anne, who surprisingly was more than alright with Gemma adopting Lottie and Nick's baby, /smiles/. "Gamma's chubby boy doesn't need any teethies, does he? He eats anything with those little gummies." 

Louis feels the same way about Anne's baby talk as she feels about Anne. Harry knows it too, because he looks at her with that stupid knowing smirk on his face. 

Apparently though, Myles is loving it because he whips his head (which is full of fluffy brown hair) in Anne's direction, smiling with strings of drool hanging from his chin. 

Cute, because that's her nephew regardless of who's raising him (despite him being Nick Grimshaw's seed) but. Anne's never been this sweet for this long with Harry's kids. She loved to show off Serenity but that was when she was a baby. She's probably only asked to see Ren and Aubs a handful of times since Aubree was born... The rest of their visits were Harry's idea. So. That's fucking annoying. 

"He was in Lollie's belly like this," Aubree cradles her mommy's belly as she drops some knowledge on the grownups around her. 

She knows that there's babies in her mom's belly (babies. plural. Louis can't believe it either.), but she doesn't really have any feelings about it yet. She was too little to really remember Zayn being pregnant. 

Serenity however. She remembers, and while she has not voiced her opinions on having two new siblings, there has been a lot of eye rolling and acting out lately. 

"And now he is Auntie Gem's baby," Serenity tells her little sister. 

Ah, leave it to Louis' children to bring up the awkward details. 

"God has a plan for everybody, girls." Anne tells her granddaughters. 

Oh please. Here she goes... 

Louis just smiles and nods. 

"Yeah, God accidentally put him in my belly." Lottie fake smiles and passes Myles to Harry, quickly retreating to the bathroom before anybody else has something more to say about it. 

She's still having a hard time, Louis knows. She shouldn't have forced her to come here... But it's so hard on their Mom that Lottie doesn't want her baby. 

"Teenagers." Louis jokes to lighten the mood. "You're never ever ever allowed to grow up, okay?" She squishes Aubree's cheeks together, giving her fishy lips. 

"I'm already growed up, Mom." Serenity smirks, arms crossed over her chest as she leans against her Grandma. 

She's such a turd, honestly. 

"No growing up. Dad's rule." Harry lays down the law. 

"But," Aubree pushes Louis' hands away from her face, still leaning between her legs. "Mommy said Mom is in charge!" 

Louis doesn't miss the look Gemma gives Anne, or the eye roll. Harry doesn't deny it though, only gives Aubree a dirty look and sticks his tongue out. 

What? She's four months pregnant with twins. Of fucking course she's in charge. 

***

When Niall comes home from work and the gym, he's different. He doesn't say much, and he alternates between glaring at Zayn or not looking at her at all. She just focuses all of her attention on helping Eli with his homework and Zaidan practicing to write his name. 

She kind of lingers in the kitchen after bed time, cleaning up and putting seat leftovers, packing Elijah's lunch and what not. 

And then he finds her. 

He takes a seat at the breakfast bar, folding his hands in front of him. Judging by the look on his face, he knows. He knows what Zayn has been hiding from him, hell, from everybody, for months. 

She wonders when he found out, how he found out. Though, she could probably guess how, considering Liam is a fucking loser who makes it his life's mission to be better than Niall in life. 

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Niall asks after a few seconds of her ignoring him. 

She shakes her head no, because no, she doesn't want to tell him that she had sex with Liam. It's been months without him knowing and things have been fine. 

Alright, they've been normal, except for the fact that they have less sex now than they've ever had including when they were hours away from each other because now Zayn knows, notices, how unhappy she is and oh, she's a few weeks pregnant again and she definitely isn't happy about it. 

Only because it will end in more heart break when she loses this one just like the others. 

So, no. There's not anything she wants to tell Niall. 

"Don't lie to me, Zayn." 

When she looks at him, she notices that his eyes are red and his hands are shaking. 

"Did you do it? God, I can't even say the words." He drags his hands over his face, all red and tired and staring at the ceiling like he's about to cry. 

Zayn... has never seen him like this. Normally when he's mad, he's violent or he yells. 

He's not mad then, he's hurt. 

"I don't know what you're talking about Niall." She lies, voice quiet. "I love you with my whole heart and whatever it is, I'm sure we can get through this." 

Niall shakes his head. "If you did it I really don't think we can." 

"What are you talking about, Nia-"

"You and Liam." He cuts her off, stoned faced and glaring at her. 

Shivers run through her body, opposite of the kind she had that night he's confronting her about. Zayn shakes her head, frantic as she looks for convincing words. She always was a crap liar. 

"N-no, Niall, no!" 

He sees right through it. "You did, didn't you? Admit it, don't lie to me fucking admit it!" 

"I didn't!" She tries to sob but it's dry, tears won't come but she can feel them. She's hormonal and tired, she should be crying buckets by now. 

But she isn't. Because she doesn't regret it, only feels bad that she's hurt Niall yet again and still she wouldn't take it back even if she could. 

Niall grabs the glass vase (filled with flowers Eli and Zaidan picked for her at the park with Niall) and throws it against the wall. "You're a fucking liar!" 

"Don't wake up my kids!" She yells, volume matching his. 

"Why Zayn?" His eyes are wild, fingers white from the right grip he's got on the breakfast bar. 

Zayn knows Niall would never hit her, not enough to actually hurt more than just her feelings anyway. With that being said; Zayn also knows Niall's keeping something between them so he /doesn't/ hit her, because he probably wants to. 

"Why what Niall? I didn't do anything!" 

"Danielle called me. Your little boyfriend told her. So he's lying? He'd fuck up his own relationship to lie on you?" His voice gradually gets louder, deeper even. 

Zayn doesn't actually cry until she notices that Niall is. 

"He has before!" She squeaks. Her heart is racing so fast it physically hurts. 

Out of everything they've been through, this is probably the end for them. Zayn can feel it, and while she thought she didn't care before, she now feels panicked. She loves Niall, Niall's her home. But she ruined that. What was she thinking?

"How can you look in my face and lie to me?" Niall shakes his head, disgusted. 

Zayn doesn't answer, just looks at him with wet eyes because fuck, what the fuck is she supposed to say? It's her fault or whatever, but Liam's such a little bitch. She's going to hit him with her car. The sex wasn't even good enough to be worth it. 

Okay, it kind of was but she still wishes she could take it back. Only because Liam didn't deserve her sex. 

"I'm gonna leave." He says, not looking at her at all. 

"Niall, no-" she chokes. 

"It's really fucking hard for me not to hit you right now." Niall mutters, grabbing what looks like his backpack before the front door slams shut. 

***

"Mommy." Zaidan says for the thirtieth time since being in this grocery store. Which, they've been here for fifteen minutes, so. That's actually not bad for him. 

"Zaidan." She replies, distracted with looking for a brand of fruit snacks that were on sale. 

"If daddy comes home from work today I'm gonna- I'm gonna show him my shirt with, with ninja turtles, mommy." 

Zaidan's wearing the ninja turtle shirt now. Him and Eli picked their matching ones this morning before Eli went to school. 

As for Niall, well. He left two weeks ago and he's been by about three times to "pick something up" aka spy on Zayn. His visits have been shorter than twenty minutes each time. But he does call every night before Zaidan goes to bed to say goodnight. It's probably just hard for Niall to be around Zayn, especially when he sees that she isn't miserable. She gets it. 

"He seen it on the picture, remember?" 

Because Niall being away is confusing for both Eli and Zaidan, Eli suggests they take a picture to send to Niall every now and then in case he misses them. 

Niall usually replies with something like, "cool shirts buddies" or "give them a kiss for me" and then they ask why he's been at work for so long and Zayn just shrugs and changes the subject. 

"Yeah and you don't have ninja turtles shirt so you can't take a picture too." Zaidan shakes his head. 

Zayn totally has ninja turtles shirts, but whatever. She just nods. When she turns to a different isle, someone taps her should. 

"Zayn?" 

She turns to find a police officer behind her? Shit. All she can think is Niall's been caught doing whatever he's doing or he's in some kind of trouble? Maybe he killed Liam. Zayn would definitely put money on his books if that were the case. 

"Yeah," she nods, heart racing. 

"Zayn Horan?" He asks again. 

"Hey Momma that's like my name!" Zaidan recognizes his last name... That's good. 

Zayn shushes him and puts her hand on his arm to settle him. 

"These are for you." The officer hands her a stack of papers. "Have a good day ma'am." 

Nervous and eager she reads the papers. They're... They're divorce papers, from Niall obviously. And he's already signed them.


	28. Chapter 28

"Only once huh?" Louis gives her bestie a skeptical look. 

Why? Because one she's just now hearing about it and B how could someone only have sex with Liam once? How? Louis is no cheater but um if she were to experience Liam she's pretty sure she'd want more? He's good looking, okay. So muscular and wow, Louis is just noticing how warm it is in here. 

Obviously she texts Harry to come open the window for her. Maybe she's a little bit taking advantage of being pregnant with twins but hey, there might be a boy in there. 

"Yes." Zayn is frustrated. She's telling Louis the full truth and she doesn't seem to be buying it. "Me and Dick Head had just fought and I wasn't happy for a long time. We went to Liam's, you were there," 

"You went to Liam's?" Louis raises an eyebrow. "With Niall?" 

Harry prances in at that exact moment, shaking his head as he hands Louis her orange juice and a prenatal vitamin. He shakes his head the way to window, which he silently opens and then kisses Louis' head on the way out. 

Him and Niall already talked about this, and Harry doesn't even want to hear Zayn's side. He's disappointed in her. She really hurt Niall and this isn't the first time and yeah, honestly, Harry's advice was for Niall to move on and let her go. Obviously he listened because Harry told him that before Niall filed for divorce. 

"Yeah, for that barbeque remember?" Zayn pays no attention to Harry's strange behavior. "He was hitting on me all night and Niall decided to go hang out at the frat house of all places so." She shrugs her shoulders. "I stopped turning Liam down." 

Louis nods thoughtfully, opening her bedside drawer to hide the pill in along with a few others she's managed sneak in there when Harry wasn't looking. 

She choked on one, alright. She loves her babies but how good is this pill for them if it cuts off all three of their air supply? 

"Cut the shit. How big is it really?" That's all Louis really cares about.

She bets it's thick and long but not too long like Harry's. If Harry's angle is even the slightest bit off Louis cramps for days. 

Feeling like they're in high school again, Zayn answers: "Big." She goes a little spacey remembering it. "Like three days later when me and What's His Name were fooling around he asked me if I'd been playing with myself because, well," 

"Eww." The more pregnant woman scrunches her nose, not at all meaning it. 

"So let me guess, you're going to end up with Liam now?" Louis teases. 

Harry, who is either eavesdropping or walking past, laughs. 

"No? I don't want anybody." Zayn just... Wants to do her for a while. Find her own happiness. 

"Right. Well, I mean. This happened before, but okay." Her supposed to be best friend shrugs. 

What a bitch. 

*** 

"So, wait?" Josh isn't getting it, apparently. "You sent fake divorce papers? Why didn't you send real ones?" 

Niall shakes his head, downing half his water bottle in one chug. They decided to meet up and take a hike so he could blow off some steam or whatever, because boxing at the gym has only made him angrier. Except now it's hot as hell out and Josh won't stop asking stupid questions. 

"To see if she signs them." Niall answers simply. 

Zayn hasn't called or texted him unless it's about the kids. No "I'm sorry" or " i miss you" or a simple fucking "I know I'm a piece of shit cheating ass whore but I still love you". Nothing. He got fucking nothing. 

"But what if she does?" Josh asks, softer now because he's trying to be sympathetic or whatever. 

Niall doesn't need sympathy. Fuck that noise. 

"Then she can live her life thinking we're divorced and when she tries to get married again she won't be able to, because she'll still be married to /me/, and she'll have to track me down and beg me for a divorce and I'll say no, then we'll fall in love again. Some Sweet Home Alabama shit." 

The truth is, Niall's so hurt that he should be filing for a real divorce. He should be in prison for killing Liam. He should be at home with his wife, watching t.v. with his son and nephew while Zayn sneaks off to get high and comes back with sandwiches. He should of woke up with her hair in face and her cold toes on his legs but he didn't. He woke up alone in his mom's basement to the sound of Greg shouting at the fucking television. 

"Niall..." Josh shakes his head. 

Niall nods towards a shaded area for them to sit and rest for a minute, only because he's sure his face is redder than Josh's and Josh's face is pretty fucking red. 

"I think you should just let her go, man. It'll be hard but maybe it's better for you to move on." 

Niall doesn't look at his friend, because even though he's probably right or whatever he's so fucking sick of hearing that. 

"I'm tired of people saying that to me. I've been in love with her since I was seventeen." 

They've put so much work into their relationship, him and Zayn. They'll get better because they have to. They're supposed to be together. That's how things are supposed to be. 

"She's really good at playing victim. Aren't you tired of being the bad guy? She's not even sorry, but I bet she told you about ten different things that you did to make her cheat on you." Now Josh is irritated too, kind of how Harry was. Maybe they're right...

"I love her too man," Josh sighs. 

Niall whips his head around to glare, because what the fuck? Is he gonna fuck his wife next? Since that's the trend in Niall's life apparently. 

"Calm down, she's like a sister to me. I always tell you when you're wrong and I always tell her when she's wrong, and this time brother, she's completely wrong. One hundred percent."

"Yeah, well." Niall stands, dusting off his shorts. "It's easier when I'm wrong because I can fix it." But Zayn doesn't want to fix it, so what's Niall to do? 

Niall takes off in the direction of his car, ignoring Josh calling his name. Fuck the hike and fuck the talks. That's not what Niall came out here for anyway. 

***

Sometimes in life, people have to make like, really hard decisions. Louis herself is struggling to make a decision now, as she watches Harry gathering his wallet and keys, stupid but really fucking nice cock swinging around in his sweat pants. 

Gray sweatpants at that. 

Anyways. Get dicked now and probably not get chicken nuggets because Harry will fall asleep, or wait for dick and get it while she eats her chicken nuggets. 

Obviously the second option sounds the best, but Harry literally looks like a fucking snack. 

"You look like a whore." She says instead, because what the fuck. Joggers with no underwear and not even a shirt? 

Harry bites his lip around a stupid grin, pushing his hair back away from his face. "I'm not even getting out of the car." 

"We have neighbors that all like to look at you." 

The old ladies on the block love Harry now that he's sober and they don't invite their friends over as often. When Niall used to live with them, their neighbors would watch their house with scowls on their faces and not say a word when they waved. Not anymore though. 

Especially the little slutty old lady across the street. She always has something she needs Harry's help with. 

"Only you get to have me." He says, like he's some kind of special prize. 

He kind of fucking is though. 

"Mhm. Come kiss my mouth before you go." 

Happily, Harry obliges. He hovers over her, strong arms on either side of her shoulders as he kisses her. Slow at first, then with a little tongue. 

Fuck the chicken nuggets. 

Louis spreads her legs, raising them to sneak her toes in the waist band of his pants. 

"Mmm." Harry shakes his head, using one of his hands to plant her foot back on the bed. "What if I poke the babies?" 

He always says stupid shit when she's the one that tries to get something going, but if he was the horny one... wouldn't even think about it. He's dumb. 

"There's room for all of you." Harry scrunches his nose, as if he wasn't all up in there this morning. "I wanna be on top, will you help me?" 

The first time they ever had sex, Louis was in top. And- fun fact, Harry came quick so she thought she was good at it. After his stamina built up she realized it's too much of a work out. Now she barely gets on top and when she does its only for a few minutes, with Harry's help of course. 

Harry groans, fucking groans as if he's not getting the best end of the deal or whatever. 

Maybe it's the pregnancy with the whacky hormones and shit but that just really pissed Louis off. 

She brings her foot as high as she can with her little belly in the way to kick him in his own flat belly. How he has abs and a little pudge is beyond Louis but fuck if it isn't sexy. 

Except now, because she can't rub her pussy on it. so that makes it totally unnecessary. 

"Nevermind." She does her best to roll to her side with his stupid face and really stupid nice arms hovering over her like a creep. 

"I can go down on you," Harry suggests. 

Hmm. Maybe Louis isn't as mad as she thought? Or maybe she is. Who is she to turn down head either way? 

She peeks one eye open, "I don't feel like getting you back."

Harry shrugs. "I can take care of it," 

In his mind, they already risked having sex earlier and Louis is fine now but it's best not to push it. He doesn't want her in any more pain that she normally is. 

Louis rolls back onto her back, instantly softer and sweeter now that she's getting her way. "Will you do it after you get my chicken nuggets? Please." 

Cause, she could eat. Hell, she's eating for three now there's never a time where she can't eat. 

Harry's face is just as soft when he nods, giving her forehead a wet kiss before he goes. 

***

Through the camera, Eleanor smiles at a rather pathetic looking Liam. 

"That's good Liam, I'm so proud of you." She says, voice like honey. 

Liam shrugs a shoulder, pouting. 

"You always do the right thing sweetie. That's why I fell in love with you, because you're so good. I just knew you'd make it right." 

Liam nods. His eyes are red from crying. "I miss you." 

Eleanor sighs. "I miss you too honey. I'll see you soon, okay? Really soon." 

He nods again and Eleanor blows kisses for goodbyes before hanging up. Once that's over with, she turns to her "fiance". 

As if. She's only getting married once in her life and she'll be damned if her husband isn't Niall. 

"Now do you see why we need him?" She asks, smug as hell because for years all of the little shit he planned never worked. Eleanor knows where to hit and how hard to hit to make them break up. 

"But did he have to fuck my girl? I could of easily sent someone to fuck your boy," Justin glares. 

"I tried that already, remember? He didn't want it, either time." 

What she doesn't tell Justin is that obviously Zayn's a whore and that's why she was more likely to cheat than her sweet Niall was. She can't miss Justin off though, he's the one with the money to make her missions possible, since her dad cut off her credit card for buying thirty spy camera's. 

Unfortunately they're all still in Niall's old house, mostly in the basement where there's hardly any action. Usually those ugly kids play down there or once in a while Harry and his fat mate will sneak down there to do the nasty during the day. 

But, three days ago, Eleanor hit the jackpot. Niall was there. And he had a talk with Harry, a talk about divorcing Zayn. And Harry, bless his heart, said there was somebody out there for Niall, waiting to treat him right and he must of meant Eleanor because he look right into three of her camera's after he said it. 

"Yeah, whatever. As long as it helps me get back to my family." He refers to Zayn and Zaidan. 

Eleanor smiles politely, but Zaidan is totally coming with her and Niall. They can keep the new kid.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall I just realized I started this second book almost a year ago omfg 11 days till this lil babies anniversary THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who is still reading you mean so much to me <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are you ready for undecided Zayn playing games with a cute lil blonde boys heart me either

"Hey Hon?" Harry calls, both Aubree and Serenity mocking him as he looks for their mother.

He ignores the girls, because he just read her last Facebook post that says she's depressed? Hopefully realizing they'll have four kids soon isn't the cause.

"Hon?" He finds her in their bedroom, staring off into space with a pillow clutched to her chest. Poor little baby looks so... Well. Angry, actually.

"What's wrong baby?" Harry coos, sitting next to her on the bed. "You're depressed? Do you want to talk about it?"

Louis says nothing, but the tear rolling down her cheek makes Harry try again.

"What happened? What caused thi-"

"You." Louis growls. "You know what you did, don't even sit there and act like you care now."

What? Harry's done nothing. He's been playing with the girls all morning and keeping them out of their mom's hair so she can relax. Oh, maybe that's what it is.

"Do you need attention?" She's been alone all day. Even before she got pregnant again she hated that.

"You son of a bitch!" Louis throws the pillow across the room and throws herself back on the bed, sobbing.

Okay... Harry still thinks it's the attention thing but he could be wrong?

"We can snuggle and watch a movie? Or do you want to go out and do something? The beach maybe?"

His inner pervert totally suggested the last part. What? He loves Louis' pregnant body and she isn't ashamed of it either. She still wears her little bikini and fuck, he's already chubbing up a little.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you fucking selfish, unloyal prick." She cries.

Huh?

"Babe, maybe you just need a-" nap, he was going to suggest, before he was so rudely hit in the face with a package of Oreos that appeared from thin air??

"You might as well eat the whole thing now, you greedy bitch." She cries.

Harry had literally three of her Oreos last night. Three. From a whole package. But, baby's pregnant, and however crazy they are, her emotions are still valid.

Before he knows it, she's sniffling with her phone against her ear. "Yeah, can I come stay with you? Harry doesn't fucking respect me and I'm sick of it."

What the fuck?

"Is this because I ate three cookies? Seriously?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Louis hangs up... If she was even actually on the phone with anybody.

"I never eat your. food Harry, ever! Especially without asking. I can't believe you did this."

That's a bold faced lie if Harry's ever seen one. In fact, between Louis and the kids, Harry hasn't eaten so much as a sandwich to himself in years unless he's at work. Even when he eats his salads and granola somebody always wants a bite.

"I'm sorry," Harry just. He doesn't know what the fuck is happening honestly.

This isn't for him to fix probably. This is one of those things where Louis will see on her own that she's overreacting.

"Can you help me pack my things?" She asks, nosey all runny and red. Poor, crazy, pregnant little baby.

"How about I help you get dressed and drop you off wherever you want to go, and in a few hours if you're still upset with me I'll bring you some overnight clothes?"

Because, he knows no more than five minutes after she gets out of the car she's going to miss him. Probably gonna miss him in the car.

Louis sniffles, nodding her head as she sits herself up. "Okay. But if I'm not mad you'll pick me up right?"

See. Harry knows his babe.

"Course." He tells her sincerely.

***

"Is you staying here now, daddy?" Zaidan asks, wearing one of Niall's hats that's way too big on his little head, "helping" his dad " fix" Zayn's car.

Nothing's wrong with it, and if there was she could of had it towed to a mechanic. It's just... Zayn got bored. And mostly she wanted to see if Niall will still run when she needs him to. Okay and maybe she wanted to see him.

His scent from his pillow is almost totally faded. Without that to comfort her at night it's starting to really set in that he's gone.

"No buddie, I'm going back to Granny's." He tells his boy, voice sad.

It's too bad his mom's such a heartless bitch.

"Oh, man!" Zaidan throws the wrench on ground and kicks it. When he starts whining, screaming and crying, Zayn comes out to check on them.

"Hey, hey!" As much as Niall wants to look at Zayn, he doesn't. He focuses on his son, squatting down so they're face to face. "Look at me in my eyes."

The boys lip quivers, cheeks all red and his little lip pouted. He looks so much like his Momma right now that Niall wants to cry too.

"I love you, okay. I'm not gonna be staying here no more,"

Zaidan starts crying again, loud. Niall picks him up so he can hug him while he tries to explain what's happening.

"But you can always ask Mommy to call me, and you can come sleep over with me whenever you want, okay? Daddy and Mommy just, we don't live together anymore, we have two houses now. You know what that means?"

Zaidan shakes his head no, hat now clutched in his little hands between his and Niall's bodies.

"You're gonna have two rooms! Once daddy gets another house, you're gonna get your own room at my house."

Niall and Zayn's first born baby sobs, wiping his nose on Niall's shirt. "I don't want two rooms!"

He just wants Mom and Dad and Eli all in the same house for forever.

Unfortunately, Elijah will only be with Zayn for a few more months because Greg too has been looking for his own house. After Greg has his own house there's really no reason for him not to have Elijah. Like, sure he's a fucking dumb ass in Niall's strong opinion but he's a good dad.

"Hey, are you a big boy or a little boy?" Niall asks, more frustrated now.

That's when Zayn cuts in. "Why did you say that to him?" She looks at Niall like he's disgusting.

She's so fucking beautiful and Niall hates her. He hates her because he loves her so much that he can't hate her, not truly. She's so fucking beautiful and she's looking at Niall like he's the piece of shit in this situation.

"Somebody's gotta tell the truth around here." Niall turns around, away from Zayn.

"Give me him." She attempts to grab him, and that's when Zaidan really goes crazy. He starts screaming and thrashing.

"No! I don't want Mommy!"

Zayn chooses to ignore Zaidan. She isn't hurt by him not wanting her, she knows he's just missing Niall. There's been a lot of temper tantrums about it.

"He's three years old, dude. Don't put him in the middle of our shit." She just wants to protect her baby.

Both of them, which is why this is the first weekend in a few weeks that Eli is with Greg. He's supposed to be trying to get a house so he can raise Eli, but as of now her and Greg share custody of Eli, so hopefully he knows nothing is going to change with Eli's schedule.

"He's not-" Niall notices their neighbor watching them. He's watering the grass and just staring at them like they're putting on a show for his dumb ass. "Let's go in the house."

Only because he doesn't need any smoke from his neighbors. They're already suspicious of them because they have security.

"Are you gonna go bye-bye again?" Zaidan sniffles, little lip shaking.

Aww. He's so sad.

"No, bud. I'm gonna talk with Mommy and then I'm gonna come play with you."

Zaidan gives Niall his biggest smile, putting his dad's hat back on his little head as he's carried in the house.

*

The talk with Mommy never happened. Zayn wanted to talk upstairs and suddenly Niall didn't want to go upstairs. They both know what would have happened up there anyway. They'd fight, one of them would cry and somehow they'd end up fucking. Niall just knows he'd feel disgusting after he touched her, knowing someone else has. He doesn't want to feel that way about his wife.

But, what he doesn't know is, Zayn was going to ask him if he's coming back or if she should leave? That way, whoever has to go could start packing.

Instead, Niall sat on their living room floor, sliding plastic trucks along the hardwood floors, trying /not/ to remember how his son's first Christmas was in this house, or how he'd asked Zayn to be his wife by the same door he would use to leave her when Zaidan fell asleep.

***

The good thing about having girls so close in age is having conjoined birthday parties. Of course, Louis and Harry's girls are so different that in order to please them both there's like, six different themes in the backyard alone.

Zombies, princesses, dogs, ninja turtles, Peppa Pig and some kind of animal that Harry isn't really sure about? But he's only on a few balloons so, whatever.

There's dinosaurs and rainbows in the kitchen.

Anyways. Just about everybody has arrived, naturally Zayn, Zaidan, and Eli are the last to show. Zaidan snatches his hand out of hers and bolts towards the bounce house the second they hit the driveway.

From said bounce house, Louis can be heard screaming, "It's mommy's turn! You have to share! If you jump while I jump you'll kill the babies."

And then Serenity: "Let's murder them!"

And then just a lot of screaming.

Wow.

"Zayn," Harry smiles politely, grabbing the gift bags from the pregnant woman. "You look..." He glances from her face to her breasts a few times. "Interesting."

Yeah, because she had to whip out the big guns aka her push up bra and sundress, _aka_  Niall's weakness because a little spying told her that Niall, the little fucking hypocrite, was sort of already seeing someone. Casually or whatever. Fuck that noise.

"Thanks. Who all is here?" She asks only because she seen Niall's truck but now she's seeing no Niall.

Though, she thinks she seen Liam's car too but she isn't too sure.

Harry gives her a knowing look, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "He's here. That explains why those are out." He refers to her cleavage.

Mhm. Whoever she is, Niall's new boo, she's going to learn that he belongs to Zayn. She's only around because Zayn doesn't want to be, and Zayn will always come first to Niall. That's why she has to bang her soon to be ex husband at her God babies birthday party.

"Mom's gonna go sit down," Zayn tells Eli, who like a good boy is waiting by her side and checking everybody out. "Do you wanna come with me or go play? Zaidan and auntie Louis are in the bouncy house."

"Um, I'm gonna go play, mom." He looks nervous and excited , eager to go play with new kids.

Zayn smiles and pats his back, reminding him to take his shoes off before he goes in and not to lose them like Zaidan probably already did. Actually, Zayn is one million percent sure he climbed in with his sandals on and Louis helped him take them off and they're somewhere in the damned bounce palace, getting bounced around like popcorn kernels.

"Probably not a good look he calls you mom and your husbands brother Dad," Harry shrugs.

Elijah calling Zayn mom has been a thing for months. Harry's just talking shit.

"He calls him Greg. Is there something else you want to say to me?" Or is he going to just nitpick all day?

"Niall's here with a girl." Harry doesn't hesitate, face stone. "Probably best you leave them be, at least while you're at my kids party."

He's never been like this to her before. She wonders if he's just loyal to Niall, or if Niall got these talks too whenever Zayn tried to move on.

"He's still my husband." Zayn defends. For now, anyway.

"For now, yeah." Harry doesn't look at her when he talks. His usual undertone of playful, silliness is no where to be found. "But you're separated, and he's been smiling today so try not to fuck that up."

With that being said, Harry walks away and Zayn mentally gives his long back and stupid hair two middle fingers.

After a few minutes of people watching and small talk with Louis' mom and sisters, Louis finally wobbles over to join her pregnant best friend. She hugs her and doesn't let go, laughing as she smushes their bellies together.

"They gotta play together in the womb so they can be best friends." Is Louis' logic.

We'll see, because Zaidan adores his cousins and sometimes they like him but mostly he's a burden because he's little and he whines a lot. They like Elijah though, and they sort of just met him.

"Your belly is so big," Zayn coos, feeling their little kicks.

Zayn feels flutters so far, but no actual movement. She does have a good feeling about this one though, because when she was pregnant with Zaidan she was emotional and horny and that's how this one is going. Her other two she just felt weak and achy. But who knows. Every pregnancy is different.

"So are your tits." Louis says, finally sitting down. Her face is all red from the heat and playing with the kids.

That's how Zayn knows for sure Niall brought someone, someone as in a girl here, because Niall is a big kid and he /loves/ rough housing with them, especially in bounce houses. The bounce house is currently adult free. Bigger kids screaming and laughing, Zaidan's little voice ignored. Poor guy.

"You seen Great Value Zayn yet?" Louis smirks.

Huh? "Huh?" Zayn laughs.

She just put her ring back on this morning and if she wasn't wearing her huge sunglasses it would be blinding her right now. There's definitely more weight to it than she remembers too. How did she ever sleep with this thing on?

"Niall's friend. She looks like a store brand you."

Zayn makes face like she doesn't care, but she's already pulling her phone out of her purse.

"I guess he has a type now." She smiles, because hello she's joking. Niall never used to have a type. Girl was his type. It's probably a coincidence Louis thinks his friend looks like her.

Zayn doesn't give a shit what or who the bitch looks like, though. Because Niall is _her_ husband. _Her_ man. _Her_ best friend.

So, she texts Niall asking where he's at.

"He's not even close to being over you so I'm pretty sure he brought her here in purpose. Like, I think he wanted me to tell you she was coming because he asked if it was okay to bring her," Louis makes a weird face, as if Niall's asking for permission to bring a stranger to her home and kids party was so bizarre.

He doesn't live here anymore. He's supposed to ask. But okay. Louis is probably right anyways.

"Well. I don't want him to be over me."

Louis simply rolls her eyes. This isn't exactly new information.

"Maybe you should date Liam. I need good drama in my life." Mrs. Styles rubs her belly, her own rings hanging from a chain around her neck.

"Then you date Liam," she doubts Harry would stop her. Hell , he'd probably babysit for date night.

Niall texted her back saying he's in Louis' kitchen, asking if her and the boys were there yet.

She replies, "yes, but I want to talk to you. in private."

He reads it right away, telling her to ride to the store with him and meet him by his truck.

Maybe he has the same thing in mind that she does?

"I'll be back, keep an eye on my boys for me?"

Louis nods, looking around for probably her own husband.


	30. Chapter 30

"You would wear that to a kids party." Niall comments, glancing over at Zayn as he drives. He's got one hand on the wheel, the other curled into a fist half way covering his smirk. 

Zayn has always loved watching Niall drive, especially when she's... Well. Horny. He's a very sexy driver, okay. 

"What? My ring?" She smiles, showing off her left hand. She's got her arm resting between them on the consul, fingers twitching to touch his thigh. She

She misses him so much. At first, she didn't think she would. Her days are actually really lonely without him texting and calling her all day. No more randomly popping in for lunch either. Don't even get her started on nights either. She is so over falling asleep alone. 

Niall looks down at her hand, biting his lip into his mouth as he shakes his head. "Your dress is see through." 

She knows. That's why she wasn't allowed to wear it. 

"Is that why you opened the door for me?" 

He acted like he had to move stuff from the passenger seat, but his friend was already sitting there and there wasn't really anything to move. She isn't complaining. 

"You're awfully full of yourself." He's smiling though, so she was right. 

They're parked now in the lot of a grocery store. She has no idea what they're supposed to be getting. 

"So I'm wrong?" Zayn unbuckles her belt. She didn't bring her purse with her, only her phone. One of the professional pictures of him and Zaidan from their wedding is her lock screen. 

Because, apparently that's what Zayn does when she's sad. She looks at her wedding pictures. 

"Nah." Niall shuts the truck off and swings open his door. "I just wanted to look at your ass." 

It takes Zayn like fifteen seconds to sit there smiling because her plan is working before she opens her own door to follow him in the store. 

One, because he's so cute and she's so cute too, and two because like she said, he's cute and she doesn't need him walking around in there by himself with so those cougars gawking at him. 

They end up getting candles. One with the number six and another with the number five. If she wasn't so caught up in flirting with her own husband she'd be a little weepy that her God babies are already so big. 

"You know what we haven't done in here yet?" She's so transparent, but that's fine. She has limited time to do what she's trying to do. 

Niall snorts. "I thought you wanted to talk?" 

"Yeah, about why we never did it in here yet?" 

He nods, eyes on the road. "Of all the things to talk about, that's what you wanted to talk about now?" 

"No," Zayn licks her lips, eyes on him. "But that's what I wanted to talk about first." 

He's quiet for a moment. "What else did you want to talk about?" 

"I miss you." She doesn't hesitate. What else can she lose? "I fucked up and I miss you. I'll do anything, whatever it takes. I just. I miss /us/. You're my best friend. And, I went to the doctor and this baby is really healthy so far. Like, it's growing fast and everything. But that- that's it. Those are the other things I wanted to tell you." 

It's not exact sexy or whatever, but it's what Niall needed to hear. And, maybe Zayn needed to say it. There was a lot of thing's they didn't say to each other before. Their only options now are to work on their relationship or end it. Zayn is pretty sure she knows what she wants now. 

"That's good about the baby." Niall nods, face all serious. He parks in front of a random house a few blocks away from Louis and Harry's. "I know how bad you've been wanting a baby, so that's real good." 

"Rather have you." She shrugs. "I want another baby but I'd rather have you, if I had to choose." 

"Could of had us both, if you didn't choose that prick." He's referring to Liam, obviously. 

"So what are you saying then? You don't want to try to get past this or what? It's been months, Niall." 

And somehow this is their first actual talk about everything. They needed literal months to be calm (in Zayn's case, horny (she's fucking pregnant okay)) enough to talk to each other. 

"I'll do anything for you except continue to look stupid." 

"I don't know what came over me that night, Niall." Zayn whines. "That wasn't like me, I don't even think about other guys because I have you. I really don't know what happened," 

Lies. Well, half truth but also half lies. Zayn was mad and lonely and Liam was there when Niall quite literally left. She's desperate and codependent and Niall knew that from the beginning. 

"I just don't get it. I had plenty of opportunities to fuck multiple girls, sometimes together even, but I didn't want it because I knew what I had at home. Matter of fact, I haven't touched another woman since you got pregnant with Zai." 

Zayn's not dumb. Shit gets crazy at the frat house, which Niall's old ass has been to a few times since after she had Zaidan. And there was that girl he was dating when she was fucking around with Justin. They weren't even talking for her first trimester. Zayn doesn't believe he just worked and came home everyday. 

But, whatever. If she found out he cheated after they were married, she'd be a lot meaner and dramatic than he is. 

"I'm sorry, Niall. I don't know what else to say." 

He stares at the radio for what feels like forever before he finally touches something on it. He turns on the air then pushes his seat back a little. He turns his head, looking at her while he unbuckles his belt. 

"That's all I'm doing. If you want it, get it." 

So, with shaky hands she does just that. He's either done this on purpose or to see if she'll change her mind. She won't. She misses sex, missed being touched and held. By Niall, if course.

After a few seconds of her trying to wiggle her fingers in his boxers, Niall finally gives in and lifts his hips a little, allowing her enough room to pull both his shorts and boxers down to his thighs. 

His cock is half interested, so pink and pretty. He's always hated it when she described him as pretty. Oh well. Zayn strokes him once, twice before leaning over the consol. Blue, hooded eyes watch her face. His lips part when she ghosts hers over his, but she changes her mind last minute and puts her lips around the head of his cock instead. 

She hollows her cheeks and sucks down the rest of his length, dragging her tongue along it as she goes. This wasn't her plan, her sucking his dick, it was sort like, improv or whatever. She can't ride him in the front seat without them possibly getting the cops called though. 

"Shit," Niall holds her head, starting to fuck her mouth. She tries to push his hand away, tell him that he's going to ruin her fucking hair, but he grabs her wrist with his free hand and continues fucking her mouth. 

He has such terrible blow job etiquette, honestly. 

It doesn't take him long to come, never does when she uses her mouth. She rubs his thighs while he comes, swallowing it all and letting him grow soft in her mouth. 

When she sits up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she laughs. "I was trying to tell you not to touch my hair!" 

Niall shrugs, tucking himself back in. "I know." 

He's the worst and she loves him a lot. 

***

When Zayn finally fucking reappears (Louis is /sure/ it's only a coincidence her and Niall come back at the same exact time with smirks on their dumb faces (them two never want each other until someone else does)) Louis calls everyone to sing happy birthday to her baby girls. 

Or rather, she tries. 

"It's time to-" she starts, loud. "Oh, shit," 

Harry, who is standing next to her, turns to her, super concerned. 

Until she starts sneezing. It's just a sneeze attack. 

Louis' belly is so heavy she has to hold her belly while she sneezes, meaning after the first one sprayed the cakes, Harry has no other option but to cover her mouth for her with his raw hands. Sick. The things you do for the ones you love. 

"Oh my god," she shakes her head after like ten sneezes. "That hurt, can you check if I pissed myself?" 

She twists her body so they can both look at her ass. It's less hot checking her out when he's literally searching for wet spots, but again. The things you do for the ones you love. Her pants are black, so Harry uses his hand the check instead. 

He shakes his head. "You're wearing a pad." 

"Okay, good." She's been having more accidents lately, her body is too small for all this baby in her belly. Minus the piss, it's heaven for Harry. 

She gives him a quick kiss on the lips before restarting her announcement. "Come sing happy birthday! Come on, girls. Aubree, Serenity!" 

The parents both sing along behind their kids, of course after Louis made sure her mom was recording and Fizzy was taking pictures since Lottie didn't want to come. 

Louis does however notice the way Niall stares at Zayn all sad looking with his arm draped over his guests shoulder. Zayn pays him no attention, squatting down between Eli and said as she sings to her nieces. 

She doesn't have time to fuss with their drama today. It's her fucking kids birthday party, and she wishes they would stop using her events to get back at each other. Or with each other. 

All Louis is saying is, you don't see her and Harry sneaking off to hate fuck during Zaidan's birthdays. Or, at their God can wedding. 

She's going to stop inviting them to things. 

Not really, but in her pregnant state of mind she feels like she fucking should. 

***

Zayn stays behind to help Harry clean up after the party even though Louis insists she can do it. The birthday girls went with Harry's mom for the night because she's got a surprise for them tomorrow apparently. 

"Good job guys." Louis comments from her chair where she's enjoying a slice of grown up cake aka the cheese cake Harry hid in the fridge for her. 

Harry turns around to say something, forgetting completely when he sees her using her belly as a table. He's trapped between melting and cooing or getting hard. Zayn probably won't appreciate him getting hard while she's here. 

"Thank you, baby." He settles for cooing for now. The things he plans on doing to her after her friend leaves... 

Speaking of friend, looks like alone time for the Styles' is further away than Harry thought. Niall comes walking through the gate. 

"Hey." He nods to Harry. 

Harry tries not to pout too much as he nods back, throwing trash into the bag a little harder than before. 

"What the fuck you doing here?" Louis asks what everybody else was wondering. 

Niall shrugs, cleaning the same table Zayn's cleaning. Their kids are inside, Zaidan fell asleep already but Eli is watching tv or playing video games or whatever. 

"Came to help clean, hang out or whatever." 

Louis scrunches her nose. Since when does he come back to help clean? It's obvious why he's back. 

"Mhm, and where's Betsy?" Louis actually liked this one a fair bit. She was nice and funny, not fake or stuck up like the others. 

Too bad she won't be around much longer, poor girl. 

"/Selena/ has to be up early tomorrow. Took her home." 

Louis repositions herself in her chair, back a little sore from standing all day. And jumping around I'm that bounce house like her belly isn't a watermelon and a half. She had fun with her kiddies though. 

"Rude of her not to help clean up." Louis actually has the nerve to say, stuffing another bite in her mouth. 

"How long have you known Selena?" Zayn asks, voice soft. She keeps busy, stacking up plates of half eaten cake so she can avoid looking at him. 

"Met her in college, actually." 

Oh. So she's probably one of the girls he slept with between the nights he slept with Zayn. She seemed older too. Great. 

Zayn just nods. She cheated on him. He is her husband, but he cheated. He sent divorce papers, and she signed them. So, he's what? Her ex husband? Her ex husband who she still very much loves and needs. She just didn't expect him to start dating again so quickly. 

Louis looks at Zayn, and fuck that sad ass indifferent look on her beautiful face. The fuck is she so insecure for? Maybe she should offer for Harry to fuck her again, now that Niall's opinion shouldn't count anymore. 

"Well?" Louis asks, butting in their conversation. They shouldn't display their business if they don't want people all up in it. 

"Is she your girlfriend or are y'all just fucking?" 

"Louis!" Harry scolds. 

This time, Zayn actually does look at Niall, waiting for his answer. 

"What? Don't act like you don't want to know too Harry. He shouldn't bring her around if it's such a secret." Louis reasons. 

Again, Niall shrugs. "We're friends. I'm still legally married so. That's all we will be for a while. We'll see where it goes after." 

Zayn can't help herself, voice barely above a whisper when she asks, "After?" 

"After our divorce is finalized." He confirms. 

"Right." She nods, dropping her garbage bag on the ground. "I um," she clears her throat, turning to her best friend. "I have to pee, and make a phone call. You need anything while I'm in the house?" 

Louis shakes her head. If she changes her mind, Harry will get it. 

Zayn's pregnant too. In Louis ' opinion she should also be sitting and enjoying cake. Even if Niall won't cater to her, well. How many times does Louis have to offer to share her man? With only Zayn, of course. Her and Harry have discussed it. Zayn needs a Harry. Deserves a Harry. 

While Zayn's in the bathroom, she stupidly stares at Liam's contact in her phone. She doesn't even really like him, she just. She knows it will get to Niall. And that's what makes it so stupid, makes her so stupid as she sits on the side of Louis' tub, waiting for Liam to pick up or send her to voicemail.


	31. Chapter 31

"Horan!" Louis hisses the second she hears the side door closing behind Zayn, waving her hand for him to come to her. 

All it takes to get Harry to follow is one glance from his wife. He may act like he hates drama and how nosey Louis is, but he's always all in on the gossip when she tells him. 

"What happened with you two earlier?" They fucked, she knows. She just wants to know if he'll say it. 

Niall rolls his eyes, mocking what is probably meant to be Zayn's sad face. "I love you so much Niall, I don't know why I hopped on some steroid freaks small ass dick when I could of just stayed faithful and had your super huge -" 

"Aw, she said she still loves you?" Harry intervenes his friends rant. 

Of course Zayn still loves Niall. She's just super needy and clingy and Niall doesn't like being affectionate unless he's in a nice mood. Louis understands both sides one hundred percent. 

"Bull shit." Niall scoffs. "If she really wanted all that shit, wanted /me/, she wouldn't of signed divorce papers. Period." 

Harry makes a sad, sympathetic face. His better half however, is passed sympathetic for this couple. Get it together or stay away from each other. Idiots. 

"Bet in a week she'll disappear with Liam, or some other guy. Who the fuck knows." He married a whore, and that was fun until he found out she was for everybody. 

"I mean, I don't think -" Zayn would actually date Liam, Louis starts to say, before an angry Zayn interrupts her. 

Nobody even heard her come back out? Sneaky devil. 

"You sure did find another girlfriend pretty fucking fast though, but nobody wants to talk about that?" Zayn looks so pissed. 

Not the pathetic, sad and silent mad she normally is. She looks ready to fight. 

"You cheated on me too, you just never got caught." 

"Excuse me?" Niall says, but Zayn's not hearing it. 

Yelling over him, Zayn visibly gets more riled up. "You bring all these bitches around the second we take a break but I never, /never/ fuss over it the way you do! You think I don't know you fuck them, Niall? Because you sure as hell don't fuck me!" 

Louis gasps, looking at Harry to make sure he heard that. They always thought the other two were always at it like rabbits... Louis will just have to remind her friend later that Harry is a damn good human dildo and Louis is totally okay with sharing as long as she can watch. 

What? Harry's a good husband. No matter what they've been though, he's never even tried to cheat. This man doesn't even watch porn. He literally wanks to his and Louis' homemade videos. Plus, it's more for Zayn than for Harry anyway. 

"We aren't talking about this here!" Niall spits. 

Zayn just laughs. "We don't /talk/ about anything, ever. No matter what I do I'm always the bad guy, you're never wrong -"

"You slept with my friend do you really think you're gonna be the hero in this situation?" 

Harry grabs Louis' hand, probably to try to pull her up but she just holds it and continues watching the show. She's so proud of her friends. Zayn for finally letting it all out and Niall for not giving in or letting it go. 

It's hard to be on both sides, but Louis can manage. Plus, she gets more information this way. 

"I was good to you for /years/ before that! All I wanted was you, you idiot!" Zayn stomps her foot. 

Louis hopes she wasn't the only one who noticed Zayn's titties bounce when she did that. God, she really needs to get laid. Zayn might have to wait. 

"When we finally go somewhere, you don't even talk to me and you fucking left! /You/ left, he came on to me, all night he hit on me and you didn't even look at me once!" 

She's aware that that's a stupid reason to cheat, but it isn't like she planned it. Liam wore her down when she was already vulnerable. 

"You know what, if I'm such a shitty husband, the fuck you want me back for?" 

Niall loves her and he's hurting so much but she cheated. He can't ever get over that. He absolutely hates not waking up to Zayn everyday and being able to kiss her whenever he wants. He misses his family. But every time he sees her, or even hears her name, there's this ache in his chest that just hurts so fucking bad and he's just. He's lost. He's got no clue what to do next, how to fix it. Is it even worth fixing? 

"Because I love you! I don't want to throw away everything we have, I want to fucking work through it." 

Great, here come the water works. Louis will give credit where credit is due though, because she's honestly surprised Zayn didn't cry sooner. 

"It's just - fuck, Zayn!" Niall pulls at his hair, frustrated now. "I don't even know if it's worth it anymore," 

Whoa. Fuck the cheesecake, Louis needs popcorn. 

Harry squats down next to her chair, leaning in to whisper. "We are /not/ keeping their kids tonight." 

Right. They just got rid of their own. Funny that it's obvious even to Harry that this probably means they're back together, them finally fighting about it. 

"By it you mean me." Zayn wipes under her eyes with her fingers. Her makeup is hardly even smudged. 

If that was Louis, there would have been mascara on her forehead by now. Don't ask how it gets there. She doesn't know either. 

"You don't know if /I'm/ worth it anymore. Just say it, Niall." 

Louis is honestly getting a little bored now that it's getting sappy. She cups her hands around her mouth, using a deep voice she yells, "he just did!" Before looking around as if anyone believes it wasn't her. Harry just shakes his head. 

"You're the one that signed the papers. If you wanted to fight for us, you should of started then." Niall shrugs. 

He's right. There's really nothing left for Zayn to say, so she just nods and leaves. 

***

When Louis found out she was having actual twins, after her initial "Oh shit I'm fucked Harry is in so much trouble because this was /his/ idea to have a damn baby" reaction, she was honestly sort of excited. Like. This means all of her kids will be close. That's so fucking precious to her. 

Anyways. She wasn't supposed to find out genders without Harry, and since he had to work today her appointment was supposed to be check up only. Well. shit happens. 

"So like," Louis tries to word this without Harry getting suspicious. Luckily her back is to him, as she's laying on him while they watch television. 

"Have you been thinking of names? We need two of each, two boy two girl." 

Though, Louis definitely has one of the girls makes picked out. Amira, Mira for short. She sort of likes the name Elizabeth for a middle name but that could change. 

"Hm." Harry hums, distracted by the show, mindlessly rubbing the side of her belly. 

Rolling her eyes, Louis mocks him, but politely waits for a commercial break before prodding for an answer. She did betray his trust, after all. And this is probably more than likely her last pregnancy. Ever. 

Wow... She sucks back her tears and emotions. She'll save that for a reason to cry later. Not that she needs one, apparently. 

"Names, Harry." She gently reminds the big dope she's currently using as a pillow. For her entire body. 

"Mm." He hums again, this time thoughtfully. 

"Well I know for sure I don't want a junior, if there's two boys. Cause that's just rude." 

Harry Junior. Baby HJ. A little Haz. How perfect, Louis' heart is so full and happy and in love. 

"Okay." She says quietly, hoping to hide the fact that she's emotional again. She just absolutely loves having a family with Harry because he cares so much about her and their babies. 

All four of their babies. 

"For the other boy, I like Ashton, or pierce or something. Why are you crying? You don't like the names?" Harry pats her back. He's probably trying not to laugh at how sudden her emotions flooded in. 

"It doesn't matter." She sniffles. 

"Of course it matters, love," 

He's always been so good with her and their girls at understanding their emotions are real, whether they're just tired of had a long day, in Louis' case hormonal. He's such a great dad. 

"If I tell you something," Louis peeks up at him, face buried between his ribs and the back of the sofa. "You promise to remember how much you love me so you won't get mad?" 

He makes a weird face, laughing a little now. They've been through and gotten through everything they possibly could as a couple. They rarely stay mad at each other for long anymore. 

"I guess?" He shrugs. 

"Oh god, I don't want to tell you!" 

She's being too dramatic now, so Harry really doesn't have another option when he starts tickling her. 

He should of thought that through, because Louis hates being tickled, and /her/ only option is to bite. 

"Ah! I think you drew blood!" Harry pushes her back by her forehead, inspecting his side with his other hand. 

Now who's being dramatic? 

"You /know/ I hate when I'm tickled Harry! You want me to wee all over you and the couch?" 

"Wouldn't be the first time." He mutters, absolutely lying. 

Louis has never wee'd on the couch. 

"I'm trying to tell you that I forced the doctor to tell me genders without you today and I feel really bad about it and all you want to do is okay around and -"

"You /what/?" Harry shrieks. He's laughing though, so he can't be too angry. 

"I can tell you or I can pretend I don't know until next week." She'll also have to tell Zayn, her mom, and the mail carrier to pretend they don't know either. 

"Cause you're so fucking skilled at keeping secrets." 

Harry deserves the bite that that one earns him. 

He sighs this time, running a hand through her messy hair. "I can't keep secrets from you either." 

Good. He better not ever even try. 

"I... May have... Asked the nurses to call me after your appointment today so they could tell me. Told them I was throwing you a reveal party." 

That little shit. "You little shit!" She swats her husband. Sneaky little thing, isn't he. "Are you throwing me a party though?" 

Louis loves parties. 

"Nah." Harry shrugs, shaking his head. 

If he deserved the bite earlier he definitely deserves the next three he's given. 

***

Niall comes by unannounced on his lunch break. Well, he let Zayn know he was coming by like five minutes before he just let himself in, but still. 

The boys are so happy to see him, both of them. Zayn was already reheating them the chicken she made for dinner last night, so she throws in a little more for Niall too. 

"How come you're not at school?" Niall asks Eli. Zaidan is on his lap sharing his plate. 

Eli looks at Zayn, she gives him and approving, reassuring nod. 

"It's ditch day." The little boy shrugs. 

Surprisingly, Niall laughs. "Do kindergarteners have those?" 

Truthfully he's staying home today because yesterday he came home crying again, saying that the same little boy was being mean to him again. Zayn's tired of this. Supposedly the principle is out until tomorrow, so that's when she's going to go up there and talk to them. 

If that boy didn't ride the bus home, she'd fight his fucking mom pregnant or not. 

"Elijah does." Zayn answers, pouring everybody's juice. 

"And me momma!" Zaidan yells. Always with the yelling, this one. 

"You're not in school, buddie." Niall tickles his son, kissing his head when the little boy giggles. She

"Can you guys go play for a minute, so I can talk to your momma in private?" Niall asks the boys after they're done eating. Turning to Zayn, he adds, "upstairs." 

Yes. Five hundred times yes. He used to do this all the time when they first moved in here. 

They have not talked since Serenity and Aubree's party a few days ago, but Zayn will probably never turn down sex with Niall. At least he's coming to her and not great value Zayn. 

"Aww!" Zaidan whines. "Then, then you can come play with me and Eli for a little bit daddy before you have to go to work, daddy?" 

The dad nods, lifting his son off of his lap. "Yeah, for a little bit." 

*

When they go upstairs, her and Niall, they go in her room. Which, where else did Zayn expect? It's just that, she hasn't been in this room with him in forever. Her hearts racing as she sits on the edge of the bed, watching him lay across is like it's still his. 

Technically, it is. 

"I'm tired as hell." Niall runs his hands over his face. 

Zayn just nods. She doesn't really know why he's here... 

"Was there something you wanted to talk about?" 

He reaches his hand out like he's looking for her. Part of he wants to grab it, hold on to it and never let it go. She won't though. It's probably a bad idea. 

"Where's your hand?" He asks, soft. 

Oh, okay. Well, whatever. She has to lay across the bed, opposite of how Niall's laying to be able to reach. All he does is hold it, rubbing his thumb over her rings that she hasn't taken off again since she put them back on. 

If he asks for them back... Zayn will die. He will have to pry them away from her. 

"You still love me?" He asks. 

Zayn nods. At first she was fine. She thought she wanted to be away from him. But now she misses him. Her heart aches when she wakes up alone, when her phone shows he read her messages and didn't reply. Zaidan helps with a lot of that. The kid is so needy and clingy that he consumes most of her attention until Eli gets home. 

"Yeah." 

"Have you heard that thing, that if two people can't stay away from each other, maybe they aren't supposed to?" He asks next. 

Again, Zayn nods. "Yeah," 

"The thing is Zayn, I love you too. I'm still hurt, but I love you and I'm tired of acting like I'm okay when I'm not. I miss you." 

For that, Zayn sits up to properly look at him. She can relate. She's glad he's saying all of this first because whenever she says anything about them or her missing him he changes the subject. 

"I miss you too." She agrees. 

"I wanna move back in." 

He laughs when Zayn's eyes go big. 

"I think Zaidan will like that," 

Niall arches a brow, face amused. "Just Zaidan?" 

Zayn shrugs. "Eli too. Are we doing this for real? Like," Niall encourages her to keep going by squeezing her hand tighter. "Are we like, we're back together or just like, just living together?" 

He smiles, chuckling at her. "I want to be back together, if you do." 

Obviously she does. 

"I don't want to be here when Selene is here." 

"Babe!" Niall pulls her hand hard enough that she lays next to him. It feels weird but in a good way. "She's a friend. Only a friend," 

Zayn pouts. "You were hugging her." 

"She told me, you know, and I never told her how long we were split or even why we were, but she said that she could tell we weren't done yet. The way we looked at each other when the other wasn't looking or some shit," 

Cute. Zayn still doesn't want to be around her. There's not a doubt in her mind that they slept together, because why else would she want to come to a kids party with him? When Niall himself probably hardly wanted to go. 

"I just want you. I won't talk to anybody, I don't care who you talk to but I won't talk to anybody." Zayn tells him, pathetically. She's a relationship kind of girl. Never had done well on her own, always sort of needed somebody with her. More often than not she's pretend it was Niall, but that's a different conversation. 

"You promise?" Niall's too ... Smiley. Zayn herself is emotional, crying since he said he's moving back in. Something feels off. 

Zayn nods anyway, kissing him when he puckers his lips.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have almost half of the next chapter written already so hopefully I won't take forever to update again !!!!

Louis sighs, watching fondly as Harry trips over literally nothing for the millionth time while trying to set up the kids new toy in their basement. It's a mini bounce house. Serenity and Aubree are so lucky. 

Him and Niall have been trying to set this thing up for at least forty five minutes by now, growing more and more agitated every time Aubree asks if they're almost finished because they're taking "forever and ninety nine days", aka a long time. It's also frustrating Harry that every time the damn thing gets a little air in it Serenity pounces on it and deflates it. 

And poor Niall. All he can do is watch and try to stay patient with his best friend even though he is anything but, because Zaidan clings to him and whines until Niall picks him back up. 

Zayn's poor baby woke up in a mood. She suspects its because Elijah is with Greg for the weekend and they've been talking about that being a more permanent thing so Zayn isn't overwhelmed. Fuck that noise though, because Zayn can take care of all of her babies, thank you. 

"He's so hot as a dad." Louis says more to herself than to her friend, tilting her head to get a better look at her mans booty.

It's looking nice in those joggers. 

"I love like, watching him do dad things, you know? Like, he picked this up himself. And you know I was pissed, because I'm about to have two more babies to feed and he goes and spends fucking two hundred dollars on this shit," she shakes her head. 

That's it? Zayn thinks. She should get one for Zai and Eli. 

"But look how happy they are." Louis has literal hearts for eyes. 

She must be seeing something different though, because Zayn sees Harry all red and fed up and Aubree pointing her sassy finger everywhere as Serenity belly flops off of the sofa and on to the barely lifted bounce house. 

Zayn gets it though. Because even now, when all Niall is doing is holding their son, Zayn wants to remember this moment for forever. No matter what happens between them, she hopes she never forgets the little things. So, yeah. She gets it, or whatever. 

"I think I'm just emotional cause all the hormones and stuff, but I been like, really loving Harry lately. Not just sexually either." 

Mmm. Zayn gets that too, but currently she cannot relate, so. "Well, that's good. Since you married him and all." 

"Yeah." Louis sighs again. "I married him so hard." 

For a second, Zayn is the smallest hint of jealous of the look on her best friends face. Louis and Harry have been together for so long, they've been through everything together and somehow they're still so fucking happy and in love. It's not fair. 

She feels like her and Niall have never really been in love with each other at the same time, and that's really fucking sad. 

"How do you..." Zayn doesn't fucking get it. "Like, how," 

"How what?" 

Putting her thoughts together so she doesn't come off wrong, Zayn carefully rubs a hand over her belly. Getting so big now, and even though she's trying not to her hopes are high for this one. 

"How are you still so happy?" Zayn shrugs. She doesn't remember her and Niall being happy together for more than a few weeks at a time really ever. 

Before they were officially together they were really happy, but after Zayn for pregnant things didn't feel the same. 

"We fought for each other." Louis answers after a few seconds. "It's not easy, but he's my person, you know? I know I'm meant to be with him, even though he fucking irritates me, he's my person."

"Oh." Is all Zayn can say, really. 

Louis smiles, resting a hand on Zayn's thigh and squeezing it. "You'll get there. Never stop fighting for what you want. For what you love,' 

But Zayn isn't a fighter and Niall doesn't talk to her. What if he isn't her person? If it's not him, she probably doesn't want him. 

"Hey," Zayn turns in her chair, whispering quieter now even though she's sure they can't hear her across the basement by now. "If you knew something about Niall that I didn't, you'd tell me, right? Even if he told you not to?" 

Maybe Zayn's going to crazy, but she doesn't quite believe the look on Louis' face of the mod that accompanies it either. 

***

"I just, I need my own space now." 

"But why?" Her lip wobbles, big blue eyes watery. 

"We can still have sleepovers Bree, and you can come in my room to play, but I'm groweding up now, and I need some privacy." The big sister explains. 

Louis and Harry have been cleaning up the rooms upstairs for the girls. There's a room for each of them had they decided not to share again, which Serenity did decide she wants her own room this time. Aubree does not agree. 

"I just want to be in your room Renity with you! It's spooky scary up there!" Little blonde baby sniffles. Aw. 

"I put night lights up there, and you can sleep with your tv on babe," Louis tries to comfort her soon to be middle child. 

"I'm lonesomely and I won't have nobody to talk to!" Aubree stomps her foot, pouting still. 

She's acting as if they're moving her into her own house completely rather than just across the hall from her sister. 

"Do you want to keep your room down here for a little bit longer, and the babies room can be upstairs with Serenity?" Louis offers, as if that's actually an option.

There are two spare rooms not the main floor after the girls get situated upstairs. Aubree could keep her room, and they'd turn the further room into the babies room for a couple years. They're planning on keeping them in a nursery together for two years, and after that they can get their own rooms as well. 

Kids are fucking expensive. Yesterday Louis had three spare bedrooms in her house not including the one in the basement. Today she has one. Fucking crazy. 

"Uh! No why does they get to be with Renity they're just babies they don't even -" 

"Hey!" Harry cuts in, face all crazy looking. 

In his defense, Louis did promise to wake him up in a sexy way for getting her burgers at two am and then proceeded to sleep in while he got up with the girls. And now he's forced to move the girls furniture upstairs by himself because Niall has plans supposedly. All that on top of Serenity being snappy and Aubree being whiny today... He's probably at least a little irritated by now. 

"Mommy's not yelling at you, why are you yelling at mommy?" 

"Because, daddy I don't want to have my own room and mommy's making the babies sleep upstairs and I can't snuggle with Renity!" Aubree is full blown crying again, her chunky little face all red and wet. 

How can they tell Serenity is going to be a pain today? Easy. She /always/ defends her sister. She would normally yell at Harry for yelling at Aubree when she's sad, but instead she stands there with her arms folded over her chest, raising one eyebrow. 

"I just don't want to share a room with a crybaby no more." 

See. So, that's how their day is going to go, then. 

"Uh!" Aubree looks expectantly at her mother before crying harder and louder. 

Emphasis on the /louder/. 

"Serenity Louise Styles!" Louis snaps, hugging Aubree. 

Aubree clings to her mom, sobbing loudly as she straddles her lap, not at all caring that she almost say on Louis' belly in the process. Great, Louis thinks. Now she'll never be able to get off of this floor without help. 

"Carry something up, go help your dad." 

Serenity shrugs, grabbing a single item off of her floor before skipping towards the stairs. 

There are going to be /four/ of these in this house. Louis has no idea how Harry is going to handle all of this chaos when she goes crazy and abandons them all. 

*

It takes several minutes of rocking and shushing to get Aubree to calm down. Louis would think she cried herself to sleep if it weren't for the sniffles and the occasional nose wiping on Louis' shoulder. Mom life. What can she do. 

"Hey, the babies are trying to tell you something," 

Probably, "bitch we're fucking hungry" because Louis is God damn starving, but she can wait. 

Aubree sniffles, sitting up and scooting back a little to place her hand on her mom's tummy. 

"I think they don't like it when you cry, and they want their big sister to be happy again." 

Blondie shrugs, pushing her hand harder into the belly. 

"Do you want to know where they are?" Louis is sure they couldn't have moved significantly since her last appointment, she's pretty sure she remembers which side baby A and baby B are on. If not, well. It's not like Aubree will know. 

Aubree nods and Louis gently pushes her back so she's sitting in front of her instead of on her lap. She takes both on her little hands, placing them on opposite sides of her stomach. 

"This," she taps Aubree's right hand. "Is your sister. And this," now her left. "Is your brother." 

Finally, her current youngest baby smiles. "Wow." 

If Louis weren't so hungry and uncomfortable, she would probably appreciate this moment more when Aubree leans to put her ear against her brothers side of her stomach. Nice little bonding or whatever. Of course later when Louis wants her to do it again Aubree will say no. 

"Him just told me he thinks Serenity is such a butt face." She says seriously, giggling when Louis gives her a stern look. 

***

"You gonna say it?" Niall raises an eyebrow at his wife. 

It's stupid how she still takes his fucking breath away. She looks so good, and her hair is so long, one of the things Niall has always found so sexy about her. 

"Say what?" She asks, watching herself in the mirror as she puts on a pair of earrings. 

"Whatever's on your mind." Because, despite him not currently liking her, he still loves her and he can still tell when something is wrong. 

She's been like this since he moved back in. She doesn't talk to him unless he talks first, so basically they don't talk because Niall doesn't know what the fuck to say to her. 

What's he supposed to say? "I love you but I also really hate you and the only reason I'm back is because I feel guilty and I don't want you to stress the fuck out and lose another baby you're excited for?" Nah. Besides, Yaser knows nothing of their issues and Niall would rather keep it that way. 

And, what is she supposed to say? That she can't even enjoy having him back because she feels like there's a hidden agenda behind it? Maybe she should tell him Liam blocked her number, surely Niall would love to hear how Zayn discovered that. 

"I'd rather stay home than go to my family's for dinner." Zayn shrugs.

Her mom fake cried on the phone to get Zayn to agree to come today. They were on FaceTime. Trisha had no tears. 

"Your dad misses you." Niall says, putting his hands in his pockets as he watches her through their huge bathroom mirror. "I'm sure," he adds, because how the hell is he supposed to know, right? 

It's fucked up that he sees her dad more than she does. 

"I guess." She shrugs. 

Alright, Niall thinks. Enough of this. He moves behind her, well aware of her watching his movements in the mirror as he puts his hands on her hips, feeling his way down to the hem of her dress. 

"Maybe we can... figure out a way," he moves her hair away from her neck, pressing a wet kiss just below her ear. "To help you relax." 

An leans back into him, letting herself enjoy the closeness for a minute or ten. She misses him, and kissing. And sex. But... She's scared to have sex. This pregnancy is going so well that she's not taking any risks. She wants her baby. Even when she masturbates she only touches her clit. 

"We'll be late," she tries, gently attempting to push him back. 

He doesn't budge. He rolls her dress up until his fingers can reach her panties. "Let me eat it, haven't got to in so long," 

Because he wanted to be a greedy little bitch and only receive head /twice/ since he moved out and have nothing in return. 

Okay, the second time Zayn asked him if she could but still. He could of offered. 

"You-" she wants to ask why he didn't do that to the bitch he brought to her God daughters birthday party but that isn't really fair considering what she did with Liam, is it. "Want to?" She says instead. 

Niall nods, allowing her to turn around and kiss him properly. 

"Can you check on Zaidan first?" 

Niall nods again, leaving to do just that. 

Zayn's not - she doesn't know what to do. How to feel. Being around Niall is just so confusing. She's sitting on the edge of the bed when he comes back a few minutes later. He closes the door behind him and leans against it, watching her with hooded eyes and his lip trapped between his teeth. 

The sight of him... Zayn can't believe this life is exactly what she wanted before, but for when she was older. She wanted her and Niall to be together, start careers together and still be able to have fun. She doesn't regret Zaidan or getting married, she just wishes she could of waited. Seen what life was like with Niall before she went and had his baby, married him. She's too young to already have a failed marriage and no career. 

And yet, she's excited to have another baby. If that doesn't prove she's confused... 

Niall walks towards her, dropping to his knees in front of her. He puts his hands on her knees and spreads them, his eyes stay on hers. 

"Did -" he licks his lips. "Did Liam do this, when you guys..." He purposely trails off. 

Zayn wishes he wouldn't ask questions when there's a possibility the answers will hurt him. She doesn't want to lie to him though, especially about that because he's only asking because he needs to know. He doesn't want to know. He needs to. 

So, Zayn nods her head. 

Niall reciprocates. "Did you..." 

Come? Twice? No, it was probably more than that. She waits for him to finish before answering. 

"Did you do it back? Did you, you sucked his-" 

"No." Zayn shakes her head. She wanted to, but there was no time. He was like a machine that night. She couldn't keep up. "I've never, still only you." 

Zayn doesn't go around putting cocks in her precious mouth, alright. She's only ever let Niall's in there. When she told him that his was the first in high school he went crazy. He couldn't stop kissing her and telling her he loved her. 

And again, when they just moved into this house but before they got married when she told him she didn't with Justin either. A lot of kissing, less I love you's but enough kissing to make up for that. 

Nodding, Niall trials his hands up her thighs high enough until he can reach the sides of her panties. He hooks his fingers in the elastic and tugs them down. 

"Someday," he says, kissing the soft skin on the top of her thigh as he slides her panties off completely. "I want to know everything that happened." 

Niall lifts her legs over his shoulders, already buzzing from the way she locks her ankles on his back, light headed from smelling her. 

Niall really loves eating pussy. 

"Not today though, okay baby?" 

Before Zayn can even nod her head, he surprises her with a bold lick.


	33. Chapter 33

"Zayn..." Louis says gently. "I don't think she's the one." 

Zayn looks at Louis like she's the biggest fucking idiot. "Why not? She's cute," 

"Trust me, okay. I'm an expert at cat fishing, babe. I talked to Harry as seven different people before we got married and he still doesn't know." The brunette brags, proud as fuck. "Well," she trails off, looking to her husband who is dumbfounded. 

"/Really?/" He shouldn't even be surprised. He caught her once in high school when she made a fake Facebook of a guy who literally messaged him "hey bro do you ever cheat on your girlfriend it's cool I won't tell". Idiot.

"Two were sisters that shared a phone." She waves him off. "I didn't feel like finding another text app."

"Just put hers, she's pretty." Zayn rushes her friend. 

She's anxious, okay. They don't even know who's photos they're stealing to try to bust Niall, who has a fucking dating app on his phone. All Zayn could see was what the app looked like, and after a little internet searching she found out what it was. 

"She's boring." Louis mutters, uploading the girls picture anyways. 

And yeah, the girl does look a little boring. Zayn knows she isn't Niall's type at all, but. Maybe she kinda doesn't want this whole fake account thing to work. 

Which, it doesn't, because they don't know how to search on this stupid thing and after thirty minutes of watching the poor girl only gets two messages, and one is from the creator of the site. 

"We gotta spice this shit up, babe." Louis shakes her head, deleting the average looking woman's photos and replacing them a more... Well, /less/ clothed girl. 

Even Harry got bored with waiting and left to go play with the girls and Eli. Zaidan is too wrapped up watching other kids play on Zayn's phone in her lap to join the real fun. 

"What do I do if he's on there? Like, that's going to come back on me. He's on there because of what I did, and it's my fault..." 

Zayn's not even mad at him for being on here, if he truly is. She just... She needs to know where they stand so she can start figuring out how she feels and what not. 

"You guys fight so weird." Louis shakes her head. 

First of all, if she did cheat on Harry for whatever fucked up reason, she'd deny the fuck out of that until the day she died. And then if she found Harry on some dating website, he would pay for that until the day /he/ died. Period. 

"I don't like fighting with him." Zayn shrugs. Because their fights are never normal. They let shit build up and brew until they can't anymore and then they break up or have sex and act like it didn't happen. 

Louis says nothing, just turns her phone around with a triumphant smirk when the new girls pictures have their accounts messages literally pouring in. 

One guys picture, who is only shown on the screen for a brief second, catches Zayn's attention. She snatches her friends phone and scrolls until she finds it. Sure enough, it's her husband. She opens the message, reading "hello beautiful im niall" . What a loser. 

"It's been what, five minutes?" Zayn laughs, though she doesn't find it funny. She tosses Louis back her phone, not at all caring to find out how far he was willing to take it. 

"Should we write him back?" 

"It's my fault, right?" Zayn laughs some more, shaking her head. She tries to calm herself by jiggling Zaidan's legs in her lap. "I don't care. Write him back, because no matter what this is going to be my fault, and I'm still the one who's wrong." 

Louis bites her lip, deciding that yeah. She is going to fucking write him back. She's going to have him send cash or embarrassing pictures or something and then send a fat, hairy old man to meet him at an expensive hotel. Fuck him for how he's treating her best friend. Zayn was never this insecure or emo. Zayn needs to fuck Liam again and remember who the fuck she is. 

She gets straight to it, sending fucking Niall back a "ur hot let's text". It would be good revenge to send Zayn's number too, if she were up for it. 

"Why would he come home if he's not ready to move on from what I did, Louis?" 

It is kind of sick. Louis wishes she had an answer for her friend, but unfortunately she doesn't. So all she can really do is shake her head. 

"What I did, that was an in the moment kind of mistake. He's actively searching for bitches to fuck, Louis!" Zayn's yelling now, venting and finally feeling emotion other than regret and sadness. Good. 

"How can he sleep in the same bed as me and act like everything is okay when he has this shit on his phone?" 

Zayn is full on screaming, voice hella levels above just yelling. Zaidan turns around, concerned. He touches her cheek, asking "Mama?" 

"He should of just stayed gone! What is this? What the fuck is this?" The wild pregnant woman gestures to Louis' phone. "Him getting even or something?" 

Harry, God bless him, comes in and silently takes Zaidan. He even makes sure to close the door behind him. 

"I will help you fuck his life up, Zayn." Mrs. Styles promises with her entire heart. 

Little does Zayn know, all she has to do is make one phone call home and Niall /will/ act right. Louis will not tell her that though, because she doesn't need Zayn mad at her as well. And - Harry is finally getting in on that action. They're going to have four kids. They sort of need the fucking cash. 

"I should of stayed in my little apartment, just me and my fucking baby."

Neither of them mention what Justin did to said apartment. Justin is a whole other mistake that will probably somehow be a part of Niall's reasoning. 

***

Zayn can't stop thinking about Niall's message to that fake account. 

It was simple and probably harmless but she knows Niall enough to know that there's a strong possibility it isn't. She just... He's good looking. Why is he on an app? Unless he like, wants to get caught or something. 

She stands in the door way of their bathroom, lotioning her hands while Niall lays back on their bed. The televisions on, he's watching her instead. 

"You look good pregnant." He comments, all sleepy and droopy eyed. 

Zayn smiles down at her belly, currently covered by Niall's old "all you can eat" shirt. Wearing his shirt was a conscious decision, she isn't sure exactly why she chose from his dresser. It's not like their clothes mix together and it was a mistake. 

"Tell me what you're thinking." 

The bitch living in Zayn's head laughs at that. If Zayn said exactly what she was thinking about they'd fight and he'd leave and meet up with some online who're while she sat here crying. No thanks. 

"Do you think we'll be together in ten years?" 

Niall rolls his eyes, motioning for her to come to him. She grabs her brush from the bathroom counter and shuts off the light before she goes. 

"Baby," he sits up, taking the brush from her so he can do it for her. "I know we'll be together for one hundred and ten more years. You trying to get rid of me or something? Should know by now nothing will keep me from you." 

Maybe that's all that matters, right? Even if he does... Whatever he does with other girls, he still comes back to her, right? Zayn can see Louis now, agitated and telling her that's bull shit. 

"Have you... Nevermind." Zayn sighs. She's feeling emotional tonight. She wants to cuddle Niall, be up under him and sleep and get kisses until she feels better. But the way her stupid brain is acting won't let her shut up and do that. 

He starts doing something with her hair that feels somewhat like a braid. He used to braid her hair all the time when they were in high school. The braids were big and ugly, uneven and too loose in some spots but Zayn loved it. 

"Have I what? Talk to me." 

"Have you, like." She just really doesn't want to fight, so she treads lightly. "Have you ever felt like you stopped loving me?" 

Because it sure as fuck has felt that way. Not that she hasn't felt that way herself, she most definitely has. Not like completely though, just. She wasn't happy for so long. It's hard to keep loving someone you're generally miserable with. 

"I've tried." Niall shrugs. "Many times. Never worked." 

"Are you trying now?" She asks, voice quiet. She would understand if he was, trying to move on from her that is. Why else would he message girls? 

"No?" Niall pulls her back against him, hugging tight and presses a kiss to her cheek. "Why would I want to come back if I was?" 

Yeah, exactly what she's trying to figure out. 

***

With Louis being due soon, and the young couple already having two curious older children, Saturday sex - no, /Saturday morning sex/, is something Harry knows is going to be rare soon. So, since the kiddies stayed with Auntie Gem and Couisn Myles last night, they take advantage. 

"Oh, yeah," Louis moans, eyes closed. She's groping her own breasts, so big and swollen under her delicate little fingers... 

"It's okay?" Harry asks, moving his hips slowly into hers. He's worried, okay. They already had to be in an odd position with specific angles for her to be able to take it. A pillow under half of her back and everything. 

She nods, licking her lips. Harry wants to bite that lip. "So good baby." 

It is, /so good/, Harry mentally agrees. He has to kiss her, so he does. Everywhere. After a few minutes, he apparently isn't moving fast enough for her because she starts trying to fuck him back, grinding her hips against his all needy. 

"Yeah?" Because Louis loves it when Harry talks shit during sex. He'd rather tell her she's sexy and he loves her but he knows what works for her. 

They've been together for eight years. He better know what the fuck she likes. 

"That's how you feel, baby?" 

Louis shudders, digging her nails into his thighs. That's when he feels it. Her orgasm soaking him and the sheets, his stomach and thighs coated. He fucking loves when she does that. 

"I'm gonna come," he announces uselessly. 

"Harry," Louis whines, clinging to him. 

He comes with a load groan, burried deep inside his favorite place in the world. 

"I love you, I love you Harry. I love you so much." Louis sniffles, actual tears streaming from her eyes. 

She's so cute, Harry thinks, kissing all over her face. 

"I love you more, my beautiful and emotional wife." 

He goes to pull out, ready to clean them up and find them some food but Louis apparently has other plans because she wraps her free leg around his waist, trying to pull him back to her by his arms. 

"Noooo." She whines. 

Oh. Baby wants to be held and appreciated. That Harry can do. 

"So beautiful, baby." He reminds her, obviously with more kisses. They lay like that, stuck together and sticky, until Louis falls back asleep. 

*

Before going to Gemma's to collect their babes, the couple stops by to visit with Zayn and Niall. They are also kid free, and not looking nearly as happy about it the Styles' are. Louis' just making an observation, though. 

"Ew." Zayn crinkles her nose at Louis' bragging. "What if your water broke and you didn't know?" 

Niall's grossed out face matches his wife's. Harry however, is completely smug at Louis sharing this information. His baby loves to brag, he's just sitting back watching babe do her thing. 

"Bitchhhhhh you're just jealous nobody ever made you squirt." Her tummy does hurt a little, from being full of baby and big dick. Not to mention an orgasm that strong takes a lot out of a girl. 

"No..." Zayn shakes her head. She doesn't mind talking about her sex life to Louis, but that's one on one. Even then there are things she only talks about with Niall. 

"She's a creamer." Niall adds casually. 

Zayn doesn't miss the way Harry mouths along to "creamer" while nodding his head like they've talked about this before. 

"Niall!" Zayn is so... Not necessarily uncomfortable but not exactly thrilled with Harry knowing that. That's personal. 

Niall however just shrugs, sipping his coffee. 

"What did you guys do yesterday?" Louis asks. She's a good best friend, saving Zayn and shit. 

"Zai and Eli had t-ball and then I dropped them at Greg's and went this really relaxing pregnancy yoga-" 

"She runs from it, too." Niall changes the topic back to sex, of fucking course. 

The thing is, he heard all that shit Louis was talking before. Zayn's private ass never defends him or the legacy between his legs, so he has to. 

"What?" Zayn asks, the only one here confused. 

"When I hit it, and I gotta keep pulling you back."

Louis being the natural born fucking pervert that she is lights up. She is loving this, every filthy second of it. She glances at Harry, hoping to mentally communicate that she didn't take Zayn for a runner, since the bitch always talks like she takes it.

"It's - okay, I get overwhelmed," Zayn's face is so red. Louis officially loves this day. "And we are not talking about this." 

"Yes we are." Louis nods, at the same time her husband questions : "Overwhelmed?" 

"We're not!" Zayn snaps at Niall even though he didn't even say anything. She's just so flustered between this conversation and him texting her about his dick starting to get hard while they're sitting in the same room as their friends. It's awkward. 

"I'm not having sex again until I have this baby, okay?" 

Everyone is quiet at that, feeling kind of bad now. 

Of course, until Louis breaks the tension. 

"Do you think my shit will be wrecked after I have the twins? Like with one baby, it's like this," she cups her hands to the size of what she probably thinks is a newborns head. "So with two babies it's gonna be like," she spreads her hands to three times that size. 

Harry merely raises an eyebrow at her. "You do realize they won't come out at the same time, right baby?" 

"Why wouldn't they?" The sad part is, Louis is completely serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who remembers queen vanity aka ari ??? I met her on Saturday it was Amazing I feel so blessedt


End file.
